lOO 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
their pits. The elephants are then attacked with 
spears while in their helpless position, until they at 
length succumb through loss of blood. 
There is another terrible method of destroying 
elephants in Central Africa. During the dry season, 
when the withered herbage from lo to 14 feet 
in height is most inflammable, a large herd of ele¬ 
phants may be found in the middle of such high grass 
that they can only be perceived should a person be 
looking down from some elevated point. If they 
should be espied by some native hunter, he would 
immediately give due notice to the neighbourhood, 
and in a short time the whole population would 
assemble for the hunt. This would be arranged by 
forming a circle of perhaps 2 miles in diameter, 
and simultaneously firing the grass so as to create a 
ring of flames around the centre. An elephant is 
naturally afraid of fire, and it has an instinctive 
horror of the crackling of flames when the grass has 
been ignited. As the circle of fire contracts in 
approaching the encircled herd, they at first attempt 
retreat until they become assured of their hopeless 
position; they at length become desperate, being 
maddened by fear, and panic-stricken by the wild 
shouts of the thousands who have surrounded them. 
At length, half-suffocated by the dense smoke, and 
terrified by the close approach of the roaring flames, 
the unfortunate animals charge recklessly through 
the fire, burnt and blinded, to be ruthlessly speared 
by the bloodthirsty crowd awaiting this last stampede. 
Sometimes a hundred or more elephants are simul- 
