326 
THE ELEPHANT. 
ported of the bear, the animal plugs the wound, but 
I must confess to being very incredulous on this 
point. As, however, blood in large quantities does 
not usually flow from the wound itself, but from 
either the trunk or the mouth, is it not far more 
reasonable to suppose that the creature has the 
power of retaining a large quantity of that fluid 
in either the one or the other of these receptacles. 
I have observed an elephant holding the end of its 
trunk up for the purpose, as it seemed to me, of 
preventing the blood from falling; and I have like¬ 
wise found, after death, a vast quantity of blood in 
the animal's mouth, from which and the proboscis 
it then flowed out in a complete stream, whereas 
from the place where it had received the shot—a 
distance of a mile or more—only a few drops (in 
some instances, indeed, none whatever) could be 
observed. Blood will also run strongly from a 
wound for a certain time after the animal has re¬ 
ceived the shot, but owing to the thickness of its 
skin the aperture made by the bullet soon collapses, 
and the blood is therefore stopped. 
In conclusion it may be proper for me to remark 
that, when stalking elephants or other large game, 
I have found a close-fitting skull-cap, with a 
grey wide-awake over it, very advantageous for the 
head. When game is spied, hand the hat to your 
attendant, and you are at once in stalking order. 
The skull-cap is sufficient protection against a tro¬ 
pical sun, and affords no prominent mark for the 
quarry. It serves also as a night-cap. A com¬ 
mon shooting-cap is much too warm, whilst a wide¬ 
awake alone is too conspicuous. 
