330 
THE ELEPHANT. 
to make the young herbage spring up with greater 
facility; and, during the day, discovered a herd of 
bull-elephants quietly browsing on the side of a hill, 
two hundred yards to windward of us. I started 
them with an unearthly yell, and, selecting the 
finest, fired both barrels behind his shoulder, when 
he instantly turned upon me, and, in his impetuous 
career, charged head-foremost against a large bushy 
tree, which he sent flying before him, high into the 
air, he himself coming down at the same moment 
violently on his knees. He thus met the raging fire, 
and wheeled to the right-about. 
“ I followed, loading and firing as fast as possible, 
sometimes at the head, and at others behind the 
shoulder, until the elephant’s fore-quarters were 
severely punished ; notwithstanding which he con¬ 
tinued to hold stoutly on, leaving the grass and 
branches of the forest scarlet in his wake. 
c< On one occasion, he endeavoured to escape by 
charging desperately amid the thickest of the flames ; 
but this did not avail him, for I was soon alongside, 
and blazed away at him until I began to think he 
was ball-proof. Having fired thirty-five rounds, 
with my two-grooved rifle, I opened upon him with 
the Hutch six-pounder; and when forty bullets had 
perforated his hide, he began for the first time to 
show symptoms of exhaustion. Poor old fellow ! 
it was now all over with him ; so I resolved to 
expend no more ammunition, and shortly afterwards 
lie subsided in the dust.” 
Again, “ On the 31st August we held for To- 
wannie, a strong fountain in the gravelly bed of a 
