DRIVING AN ELEPHANT. 29 



particular course which you may fancy, and, simple as 

 it may seem, it nevertheless requires the hunter to have 

 a tolerable idea of what he is about. It is widely dif- 

 ferent from driving in an eland, which also requires 

 judicious riding: if you approach too near your ele- 

 phant or shout to him, a furious charge will certainly 

 ensue, while, on the other hand, if you give him too 

 wide a berth, the chances are that you will lose him in 

 the jungle, which, notwithstanding his size, is a very 

 simple matter, and, if once lost sight of, it is more than 

 an even bet that the hunter will never again obtain a 

 glimpse of him. The ground being favorable, Klein- 

 boy called to me to commence firing, remarking very 

 prudently that he was probably making for some jun- 

 gle of wait-a-bits, where we might eventually lose him. 

 I continued, however, to reserve my fire until I had 

 hunted him to what I considered to be a safe distance 

 from the two old fellows which we had first discovered. 



At length closing with him, I dared him to charge, 

 which he instantly did in fine style, and as he pulled 

 up in his career I yelled to him a note of bold defiance, 

 and, cantering alongside, again defied him to the com- 

 bat. It was thus the fight began, and, the ground be- 

 ing still favorable, I opened a sharp fire upon him, and 

 in about a quarter of an hour twelve of my bullets were 

 lodged in his fore quarters. He now evinced strong 

 symptoms of approaching dissolution, and stood catching 

 up the dust with the point of his trunk and throwing it 

 in, clouds abovfe and around him. At such a moment 

 it is extremely dangerous to approach an elephant on 

 foot, for I have remarked that, although nearly dead, 

 he can muster strength to make a charge with great 

 impetuosity. Being anxious to finish him, I dismount- 

 ed from my steed, and, availing myself of the cover of 



