IV 
THE ELEPHANT 
127 
they exerted themselves to the utmost in their 
attempts to overtake him. 
The wound through the shoulder was fatal, and 
the elephant fell dead in thick thorny jungle, to 
which it had hurried as a secure retreat. This was 
a very large animal, but as I did not actually measure 
it, any guess at the real height would be misleading. 
As before noted, the measurement of the African 
elephant Jumbo, when sold by the Zoological 
Society of London, was 11 feet in height of 
shoulder, and 6 tons 10 cwts. nett when weighed 
before shipment at the docks. That animal might 
be accepted as a fair specimen, although it would be 
by no means unusual to see wild elephants which 
greatly exceed this size. 
The peculiar shape of head renders a front shot 
almost impossible, and the danger of hunting the 
African elephant is greatly enhanced by this forma¬ 
tion of the skull, which protects the brain and offers 
no defined point for aim. 
I have never succeeded in killing a male African 
elephant by the forehead shot, although it is certainly 
fatal to the Asiatic variety if placed rather low, in 
the exact centre of the boss or projection above the 
trunk. Should an African elephant charge, there 
is no hope of killing the animal by a direct shot, 
and the only chance of safety for the hunter is the 
possession of good nerves and a powerful double- 
barrelled rifle. No. 8 or No. 4, with 14 drams 
of powder and a well-hardened bullet. The right- 
hand barrel will generally stop a charging elephant 
