A TALE OF THREE ELEPHANTS. 2OI 



was, trumpeting viciously and shuffling her forefeet in 

 an ominous way. I sat down, covered her between the 

 eye and the ear, and dropped her dead with a two-ounce 

 ball. 



There was a chorus of shrieks from the thicket and a 

 sound of crashing branches, and out came an elephant, 

 going full speed in the direction of my right front. 



Jumping out of the smoke of my first barrel I covered 

 him on the temple and fired, bowling him over like a 

 rabbit. 



The natives had not followed me, so I was without a 

 second gun. 



Hearing the other two elephants crashing through the 

 bush, as though to make a devour round my right, I ran 

 forward, reloading the heavy gun as I did so and passing 

 within ten yards of the second elephant. The elephants 

 broke cover and went away. They were disappearing in 

 the jungle about eighty yards off just as I finished load- 

 ing and had closed the breech of my gun, so I took a 

 hasty snap shot at the croup of a retreating elephant, and 

 at once brought him down in a sitting position with a 

 broken spine. 



To have three elephants down with three cartridges is 

 very satisfactory work. 



The elephant with the broken spine was struggling 

 and trumpeting, so I gave him the remaining barrel to 

 keep him quiet, and in so doing committed a great 

 error. 



I heard a shriek behind me, and on turning round saw 

 the second elephant I had dropped rising again to his 

 legs and rocking about like a horse with the staggers. I 

 realised at once that he was not shot through the brain, 

 and that unless I gave him another shot he would recover 



