THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT. 203 



between the elephant's legs, and had it been the intention of the animal to destroy him, placing a foot 

 on his senseless body would, in a moment, have crushed him to atoms ; but it is probable that his object 

 was only to punish and alarm, not to kill such conjecture being perfectly in accordance with the 

 eliaraeter of this noble but revengeful beast. 



It appeared that the elephant, on his last return, had filled his trunk with mud, which, aft< < lie 

 had turned Mr. Arlett on his back, and had forced open his mouth, he blew down his throat, injecting 

 a large quantity into the stomach. It was this that produced the inflated appearance of Mr. Arlett's coun- 

 tenance for he was almost in a state of suffocation, and, for three days after this adventure, he 

 occasionally vomited quantities of blue sand. 



Lieutenant Moodie, in his amusing " Ten Years in South Africa," gives the following account of 

 his elephant hunting : 



" Some months after forming my new settlement, I engaged a Hottentot to shoot elephants and 

 buffaloes for me, on condition of receiving half of the profits. This man, who was called Jan Wilde- 

 man, was a most expert hunter, rarely failing to> kill on the spot whatever he fired at. He was a 

 complete wild man of the woods, and had as many wiles as a fox in escaping the dangers to which he 

 was daily exposed. His activity was most extraordinary ; and I was often surprised with his niinbleness 

 in climbing the highest trees to get at the wild vines growing over their tops. While I was considering 

 how I could get up, he would take hold of one of the ' baboon's ropes,' as they are called, which hang 

 in festoons from the branches, and, in a few seconds, he would be perched like a crow on the top, 

 enjoying my surprise, and flinging down whole bunches of the fruit. 



" Though naturally timid, he had acquired, by long practice, such entire confidence in the correct- 

 ness of his aim, that he would go right up. to an elephant in the woods, and bring him down with the 

 first shot. Sometimes, however, his gun would miss fire, when he had to betake himself to his heels, 

 and, by his agility and address, never failed to effect his escape. His adventures of tliis kind would 

 fill a volume. 



" Wildeman came to inform me, one evening, that he had shot three elephants and a buffalo ; and 

 that there was a young elephant still remaining with the body of its dead mother, which he thought 

 might be caught and brought home alive. There happened to be two friends with me from the district 

 of Albany who had never seen an elephant, and whom, therefore, I persuaded to accompany me. 



"As soon as we had finished our breakfast, we set off, accompanied by Jan Wildrnmn, my Hot- 

 tentot, Speulman, and their wives, to assist in cutting up the buffalo, and carrying the flesh home. 

 Entering the forest, Jan first brought us to the carcase of the buffalo ; but the fellow was so lazy, that 

 he had not taken out the entrails, and, the weather being warm, the flesh was unfit for. use. He next 

 led us to one of the elephants he had killed, and showed us the place whence he had fired. The ball 

 had entered the shoulder in a slanting direction, and passed through the heart. This was an exceed- 

 ingly difficult shot, as he required to be very near to hit the right place, for the ball to penetrate 

 through such a mass of skin and flesh. 



" In shooting elephants, it is necessary to be provided with balls made of an equal mixture of tin 

 and lead, as lead balls generally flatten on the skin or bones. Our ignorance of this circumstance at 

 Fredericksburgh accounts for the trouble we experienced in killing the elephants there. 



"After following several of the paths made by these animals, and struggling through the tangled 

 mazes of the forest, we ascended a steep, sandy ridge, covered with low bushes, near the shore, and, on 

 reaching the top, we came in sight of the carcase of another of the elephants, and the yonnu one 

 standing by it. At a few paces' distance, we saw a large elephant browsing among the low bushes. 

 He smelt us as soon as we appeared on the top of the hill ; and, throwing up his trunk, and spreading 

 out his huge ears, uttered a most discordant cry. 'Gownatsi !' ejaculated Jan Wildeman, ' that's (lie 

 rascal that gave me so much trouble yesterday ; he's as cunning as the devil' The dogs instantly 

 assailed the animal, and, after several ineffectual attempts to seize them with his trunk, he made off. 

 The dogs now attacked the young elephant, and chased him up the steep, sandy hill where we were 

 standing. My visitors, who were unaccustomed to large game, were exceedingly agitated. They hud 

 brought a gun with them, for form's sake, but had neglected to load it. One of them, who was a 

 Scotsman, sci/.edme by the coat, and cried out, in great agony 'Eh, man ! wlmur'll we rin ? whaur'll 

 we rin V It was no use telling him that there was not any danger, for he still kept fast hold of me, 



