270 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



her broadside against a thorny tree, which yielded like 

 grass before her enormous weight, she uttered a deep 

 hoarse cry and expired. This was a very handsome 

 old cow elephant, and was decidedly the best in the 

 troop. She was in excellent oonditioti, and carried a 

 pair of long and perfect tusks. 1 was in high spirits at 

 my success, and felt so perfectly satisfied with having 

 killed one, that, although it was still early in the day, 

 and my horses were fresh, I allowed the troop of five 

 bulls to remain niimolestedV foolishly trusting to fall in 

 with them next day. How little did I then know of 

 the habits of elephants, or the rules to be adopted in 

 hunting them, or deem it probable I should never see 

 them more ! 



Having knee-haltered our horses, we set to work with 

 our knives and assagais to prepare the skull for the 

 hatchet, in order to out out the tusks^ nearly half the 

 length of which, I may mention, is imbedded in bone 

 sockets in the fore patt of the skull. To cut out the 

 tusks of a cow elephant requires barely one fifth of the 

 labor requisite to out out those of a bull; and when the 

 sun went down, we had managed by our combined ef- 

 forts to cut out one of the tusks of my first elephant, 

 with which we triumphantly returned to camp, hav- 

 ing left the guides in charge of the carcass, where they 

 volunteered to take up their quarters for the night. 

 On reaching my wagons I found Johannus and Carol- 

 lus in a happy state of indifference to all passing 

 events : they were both very drunk, having broken into 

 my wine-cask and spirit-case. 



On the 28th I arose at an early hour, and, burning 

 with anxiety to look forth once more from the summit 

 of the hillock which the day before brought me such 

 luck, I made a hasty breakfast, and rode thither with 



