ELEPHANT HUNTING, ETC. 205 



territory one excellent result has been accomplished through 

 stringent regulations prescribing heavy fines, namely, the 

 protection of cow elephants from slaughter. Ivory from this 

 source is contraband. The laws also forbid the shooting of 

 elephants bearing tusks the pair of which weighs less than 

 60 pounds. That some innocent mistakes are almost if 

 not quite unavoidable may be admitted, but as a general 

 rule the experienced hunter has no excuse; in the case of 

 cow elephants the marked difference in size as compared with 

 bull elephants, and the smallness of the tusks, combine to 

 serve as warning indications.* 



A circumstance often noted by elephant hunters and that 

 aids them materially in their chase is the poor sight of ele- 

 phants ; they scarcely appear able to recognize the form of a 

 man at fifty yards' distance, and if the hunter keeps still he 

 frequently remains unnoticed when even but twenty yards 

 away, if he be in the shade. But as a necessary compensa- 

 tion the sense of smell in these animals is very keen, and 

 once they catch the hunter's wind their movements in attack 

 or flight are exceedingly rapid. Doctor Rainsford notes one 

 instance of a hunter's extremely narrow escape from being 

 crushed to death by a charging herd which had suddenly 

 scented his approach. The thick brush rendering even an 

 attempt at flight impossible, the only thing the man could do 

 was to cast himself down prone on the ground and let the 

 herd pass over him. The danger of being trodden upon was 

 imminent, and the foot of one of the elephants struck the 

 ground so near to the prostrate form that part of the hunter's 

 coat was torn away, but he suffered no bodily injury.f 



The most effective shot the hunter can fire is one aimed 

 between the eye and the ear of the elephant. The African 

 elephant does not offer as good a mark for a shot at the 



*Ibid., p. 11777. 

 jlbid., p. 11777. 



