Ill 
THE ELEPHANT 
IIS 
a height of lo or 12 feet above the animal. 
Sometimes a considerable number may be beneath 
one tree, in which case several may be speared in a 
similar manner. This method of attack is specially 
fatal, as the elephants, in retreating through the 
forest, brush the weighted handle of the spear-blade 
against the opposing branches ; these act as levers in 
cutting the inside of the animal by every movement 
of the weapon, and should this be well centred in the 
back there is no escape. 
There is no animal that is more persistently pur¬ 
sued than the elephant, as it affords food in wholesale 
supply to the Africans, who consume the flesh, while 
the hide is valuable for shields ; the fat when boiled 
down is highly esteemed, by the natives, and the 
ivory is of extreme value. No portion of the animal 
is wasted in Africa, although in Ceylon the elephant 
is considered worthless, and is allowed to rot uselessly 
upon the ground where it fell to die. 
The professional hunters that are employed by 
European traders shoot the elephant with enormous 
guns, or rifles, which are generally rested upon a 
forked stick driven into the ground. In this manner 
they approach to about 50 yards’ distance, and fire, 
if possible simultaneously, two shots behind the 
shoulder. If these shots are well placed, the elephant, 
if female, will fall at once, but if a large male, 
it will generally run for perhaps 100 or more 
yards until it is forced to halt, when it quickly 
falls, and dies from suffocation, if the lungs are 
pierced. 
