ELEPHANTS. 165 



yards where it crossed and entered another dense patch 

 of jungle. On the opposite side of this, we viewed both 

 animals heading towards our left, and, running forward, 

 poured in a volley, a shot from Cumming's 8 -bore 

 muzzle-loader bringing the tusker to his knees, but he 

 got up again and bolted away as fresh as paint. Gum- 

 ming had to halt to reload, but I pushed on and was 

 slowly gaining on the tusker, whose ponderous hind- 

 quarters were about thirty yards ahead. The jungle 

 now was easy going, a few scattered clumps of bamboo 

 and no undergrowth, but the position of the tusker dis- 

 closed no vulnerable point. 



At length, losing patience, the right barrel was fired at 

 the leviathan target in front, in order to provoke a charge ; 

 the effect was magical ; round he came screaming with 

 rage, ears cocked, and trunk uplifted. He was on slightly 

 higher ground, and came down the slope like a runaway 

 locomotive, but his trunk was still in the way. When 

 about twenty yards distant an overhanging bamboo caused 

 him to lower it, and to expose the bump. As the trigger 

 was pressed, I heard Cumming's bullet fired from thirty 

 yards behind me whistle past and " thud " on the tusker, 

 who, swerving slightly to my left, crashed into a bamboo, 

 and fell dead within twenty yards, getting another shot 

 from the 8 -bore as he collapsed. The scouts had spoken 

 the truth, for this tusker was rather smaller than the first, 

 but had longer and more massive tusks ; they were cut out 

 very badly by the coolies, who, although specially warned, 

 left some nine inches of each in the skull. Cutting them 

 out is always a dangerous operation ; it is much better to 

 leave them for some days until decomposition sets in, when 

 they can be drawn out without difficulty. So far as we 

 could ascertain, by measuring the portions cut out, each 



