METHODS OF HUNTING ELEPHANTS. 77 



mind what he was about, when he coolly told me he was 

 only getting ready in case the leopard sprung ; his shaking 

 hands, however, were certainly not pleasant masters of a 

 trigger, the slightest pressure on which would have sent 

 an ounce of lead through me. 



I withdrew as soon as possible, as I was convinced there 

 was no chance of seeing sport with these cock-tail gentry, 

 who, it is almost needless to add, saw nothing of the 

 wild animal, and returned soon to their nerve-steadying 

 specific. The leopard had been seen retreating by two 

 Kaffirs, who happened to be passing on the opposite side, 

 immediately we entered the bush : we could not have been 

 within 300 yards of the monster, therefore, at any time. 



With most South-African sportsmen the elephant is 

 one of the last of the wild animals which he is fortunate 

 enough to see : it was my first. The view was not a long 

 one, still it is well impressed on my memory. 



I received a note one morning before breakfast from a 

 true sportsman, informing me that he knew of a large 

 herd of elephants in the Berea, and, if I would join him, he 

 hoped that we might get a shot at them. This proposition, 

 from our ignorance of all the artifices necessary in the 

 bush, was rather rash, as elephant-shooting is always 

 dangerous sport, and when attempted by novices on foot 

 in a dense bush against a very savage herd, it becomes 

 still more so. 



Elephants are generally hunted in Africa on horseback. 

 The Dutchmen, who frequently obtain their living by this 

 sport only, are amongst the most accomplished hands; 

 they make periodical trips into the uninhabited districts, 



