132 
IVILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA VS 
CHAP. 
the entire striking energy of the projectile, and the 
animal succumbs to the tremendous shock, which 
it would not have felt had the bullet passed through, 
carrying on its striking energy until stopped by 
some other object beyond. 
I must repeat that although gunmakers object 
to the use of pure lead for rifle bullets, upon the 
plea that lead will form a coating upon the inner 
surface of the barrel, and that more accurate results 
will be obtained in target practice by the use of 
hardened metal, the argument does not apply to 
sporting practice. You seldom fire more than half 
a dozen shots from each barrel during the day, and 
the rifle is well cleaned each evening upon your 
return to camp. The accuracy with a pure leaden 
bullet is quite sufficient for the comparatively short 
ranges necessitated by game-shooting. The argu¬ 
ments of leading the barrel, etc., cannot be supported, 
and the result is decidedly in favour of pure lead for 
all soft-skinned animals. 
The elephant requires not only a special rifle, but 
the strongest ammunition that can be used without 
injury to the shooter by recoil. It is impossible to 
advocate any particular size of rifle, as it must 
depend upon the strength of the possessor. As a 
rule I do not approve of shells, as they are com¬ 
paratively useless if of medium calibre, and can be 
only effective when sufficiently large to contain a 
destructive bursting charge. I have tried several 
varieties of shells with unsatisfactory results, ex¬ 
cepting the half-pounder, which contained a burst- 
