ELEPHANTS. 297 



"he had from a hundred and ten to a hundred and twenty balls in 

 him ; as he lay in this posture, Cartmell thrust the sword into his 

 body to the hilt. The sanguinary conflict had now lasted nearly 

 an hour; yet with astonishing alacrity, he again rose, without 

 evincing any sign that he had sustained vital injury, though it 

 was apparent he was much exhausted. He endeavoured to conceal 

 his head by keeping his rear to the front ; and lest he should 

 either make a successful effort at the gate, or on receiving his 

 death-wound, fall backwards against it, which would inevitably 

 have carried the whole away, the keepers availed themselves of 

 the juncture to rapidly lash the gates of his den, with a chain and 

 ropes so securely, that he could not force them without bringing 

 down the entire front. 



" Mr. Herring now directed his rifle constantly to the ear ; one of 

 these balls took so much effect, that the elephant suddenly rushed 

 round from the blow, and made his last furious effort at the gates. 

 Mr. Tyler describes this rush as the most awful of the whole. If 

 the gates had not been firmly lashed, the animal must have 

 come through ; for, by this last effort, he again dislodged them, 

 and they were kept upright by the chain and ropes alone. Mr. 

 Herring from this time chiefly directed his fire at the gullet ; at 

 last he fell, but with so much deliberation, and in a position so 

 natural to his usual habits, that he seemed to have lain down to 

 rest himself. Mr. Herring continued to fire at him, and spears 

 were run into his sides, but he remained unmoved, nor did he stir 

 from the first moment of his fall. Four or five discharges from 

 a rifle into his ear produced no effect : it was evident that he was 

 without sense, and that he had dropped dead, into the posture 

 wherein he always lay when alive. 



" The fact that such an animal, of such prodigious size and 

 strength, was destroyed in such a place, without an accident, from 

 the commencement to the close of the assault, is a subject of real 

 astonishment." 



In the present time, when we read of hunters shooting elephants, 

 two at a time, with the right and left barrel, the above description 

 is sickening, and exhibits gross stupidity and ignorance, Barnum, 

 only a couple of years ago, it must be supposed more for an 



