HUNTING THE ELEPHANT 



of them wounded by me previously. Lying flat on the 

 ground, I took good aim and hit both. They flapped 

 their big ears and, accompanied by the two young ones, 

 fled to the right ; the rest of the herd, with the third 

 young animal, ran oft' to the left. The wounded cow 

 soon disappeared from my sight into a depression in the 

 ground. After the herd had vanished in the distance, 

 we followed the two cows and the two young ones. One 

 cow was badly wounded and lagged behind. It took 

 twenty-one shots to kill her, the last and fatal one lodg- 

 ing behind the ear. The leading cow fell shortly after. 

 The young elephants, both bulls, about five feet high, 

 stood still by the dead cow. We rushed up to them, 

 but one showed fight and attacked my men vigorously, 

 throwing one of them to the ground and attempting to 

 pierce him with his small tusks. I had to kill him to 

 save my man. Then I threw myself upon the second 

 young bull. Taking hold of his ear with my left hand, 

 my right hand resting on his neck, I brought my full 

 weight, one hundred and eighty pounds, to bear on 

 him. I cried to my men to tie his hind legs. Alas! 

 the ropes had been forgotten. Some of my men hung 

 onto his tail, the rest tried to use part of their clothing 

 as a substitute for ropes. Our efforts were futile. I 

 was very lucky not to have lost my life in the tussle. 

 We were completely played out, and gave up the 

 struggle, when the young elephant tried to turn the 

 tables on us by attacking us. My men avoided him 



107 



