Chap. XXVIIT. ELEPHANTS' TENACITY OF LIFE. 579 



self, who had come to the village of Selole, led the brother of 

 Mbunima to see at once that it was all a hoax. But for this, the 

 foolish fellow Selole inio-ht have given us trouble. 



We saw many of the liberated captives of this Italian among 

 the villages here, and Sekwebu found them to be Matebele. The 

 brother of Mburuma had a gim, which was the first we had seen 

 in coming eastward. Before we reached Mburuma, my men 

 went to attack a troop of elephants, as they were much in need 

 of meat. When the troop began to run, one of them fell into a 

 hole, and before he could extricate liimself, an opportunity was 

 afforded for all the men to throw then spears. When he rose 

 he was like a huge porcupine, for each of the seventy or eighty 

 men had discharged more than one spear at him. As they had 

 no more, they sent for me to finish him. In order to put him 

 at once out of pain, I went to within twenty yards, there being 

 a bank between us which he could not readily climb. I rested 

 the gun upon an anthill, so as to take a steady aim ; but though 

 I fired twelve 2-ounce bullets, all I had, into different parts, 

 I could not kill him. As it was becoming dark, I advised my 

 men to let kim stand, being sure of finding him dead in the 

 morning; but though we searched all the next day, and went 

 more than ten miles, we never saw him again. I mention 

 this to young men who may think that they will be able to hunt 

 elepliants on foot, by adopting the Ceylon practice of killing them 

 by one ball in the brain. I believe that in Africa the practice 

 of standing before an elephant, expecting to kill him with one shot, 

 would be certain death to the hunter ; and I would add, for the 

 information of those who may think that, because I met with a 

 great abundance of game here, they also might find rare sport, 

 that the tsetse exists all along both banks of the Zambesi, and 

 there can be no hunting by means of horses. Hunting on foot hi 

 this climate is such excessively hard work, that I feel certain the 

 keenest sportsman would very soon turn away from it hi disgust. 

 I myself was rather glad, when furnished with the excuse that I 

 had no longer any balls, to hand over all the hunting to my men, 

 who had no more love for the sport than myself, as they never 

 engaged in it, except when forced by hunger. 



Some of them gave me a hint to melt down my plate, by asking 

 if it were not lead. I had two pewter plates and a piece of zinc, 



2 p 2 



