THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 11 



The herd, or rather the detachment, made 

 straight across the plain for dense jungle, with 

 my bull bringing up the rear. Never shall I 

 forget the disappointment of that moment. I 

 had eyes only for the bull, and dashed off wildly 

 in his wake, with but the faintest hope of over- 

 taking him before he reached the sanctuary of 

 the jungle. But luck was on my side. About 

 200 yards from where the elephants had been 

 resting was a deep nullah, and into this they 

 disappeared one after the other, reappearing in 

 a few seconds as they climbed the opposite bank. 

 I pulled up dead, and the moment the huge 

 back of the bull came into view as he ascended 

 the steep bank I pressed the trigger. For a few 

 paces he went on as if untouched, and then 

 suddenly collapsed in a sitting position. My 

 bullet had caught him fair in the spine, and had 

 paralysed his hind quarters. I do not think I 

 ever ran faster in my life. In much less time 

 than it takes to tell it, I had scrambled into the 

 nullah and up the opposite bank, and had fired 

 at a distance of a couple of yards into the ear- 

 hole. But the poor beast in his agony kept 

 tossing his head, and rooting up small bushes 

 with his trunk, making it difficult to take a 

 steady aim. My shot had no effect, but a 

 second attempt was successful, and the elephant 

 rolled over dead by the side of a big tree, which 

 held the body up, and prevented it collapsing 

 altogether on its side. My delight can be 



