THE GREAT HERBIVORES 155 
was to begin at ten o'clock, and in order to make the scene 
as dramatic as possible I had the bull driven out into the yard 
at the back of the elephant house, and there firmly tethered 
to a wall, so that he could not possibly break loose. The wall 
itself was overlaid with planks two and a half inches thick in 
order to prevent the bullets rebounding. 
Ten o'clock struck, and all the preparations were com- 
plete. All was in readiness, but the hero of the story did not 
appear. What could have happened? We waited for an 
hour, and then, as the sportsman still did not arrive, I hastened 
into the town to remind him of his engagement. I found him 
and brought him back to the hunting-ground, and at twelve 
o'clock we gathered round to see the hunter slay his game. 
The gentleman had brought along his arsenal, but now that 
he was in sight of the victim his sporting ardour seemed to 
have unaccountably left him. He fingered his murderous 
weapons, but did not fire the fatal shot. Presently one of my 
travellers, who happened to be present, offered to fire the shot, 
but this the owner of the elephant refused to allow. After 
further delay, I at last proposed to the embarrassed hero that 
the animal should be hanged, and to this he gave his consent. 
The condemned giant was therefore driven back into the 
stable, and a noose was placed round his neck. The rope 
was wound round a pulley, attached toa cross-beam under 
the roof, and six of my men played the part of executioners. 
“One, two, three” I called out, and at the third shout they all 
hauled on the end of the rope. The bull almost immedi- 
ately lost the ground under his feet, his head fell sideways, 
and in less than a minute he was dead. We found afterwards 
that his neck had been broken. Thus ended one of the 
strangest tragi-comedies which I have ever seen. 
Elephants in captivity do not always die such a painless 
death as that which I have just described. The fate of the 
first elephant which we ever possessed was far less happy. 
My father purchased this beast from an English animal 
dealer in 1860; the price was only £80, for the creature 
