PACHYDERMATA. 175 



The poor beast ran for some distance before it fell : 

 Thackwray marked it with his initials, meaning to 

 return at some future time, as well as for those of 

 another, which he had shot on the preceding day."* 



" On another occasion, a herd of Elephants pur- 

 sued Thackwray and his companion to the edge of 

 a frightful precipice, the only chance of escape being 

 to let themselves down on a projecting rock at some 

 distance below the brink. Scarcely had they accom- 

 plished this, before an Elephant came up and at- 

 tempted to reach them. In this situation Thack- 

 wray could easily have shot the animal from beneath, 

 but was deterred by the apprehension, that its huge 

 carcass might fall upon them, and thus cause their 

 inevitable destruction, "f This young man at last 

 fell a victim to his daring. Mr. Steedman informs 

 us, he some time afterwards "lost his life in an en- 

 counter with Elephants similar [to the above], and 

 almost on the very spot which had been the scene 

 of our recent adventure. It appears that he was 

 pursuing his usual occupation, accompanied by a 

 Hottentot, when they fell in with a herd of Ele- 

 phants and wounded one. On seeing it fall, the 

 Hottentot supposed that it was dead, but on his 

 approach, the animal rose and rushed furiously 

 towards him ; he threw himself instantly on the 

 ground, and the enraged Elephant passed him by, 

 tearing and scattering the trees in its progress : but 

 darting into the covert where Thackwray stood in 

 the act of reloading his gun, it knocked him down 

 * Wanderings in South Africa, p. 67. t Ib. p. 65. 



