chap, vii.] CHARACTER OF COUNTRY AND ITS SPORTS. 279 
five yards of the muzzle, I killed her dead by a fore¬ 
head shot with a hardened bullet as described, from a 
Reilly No. 10 rifle, and we subsequently recovered the 
bullet in the vertebrce of the neck! 
This extraordinary penetration led me to suppose 
that I should always succeed as I had done in Ceylon, 
and I have frequently stood the charge of an African 
elephant until close upon me, determined to give the 
forehead shot a fair trial, but I have always failed, 
except in the instance now mentioned ; it must also be 
borne in mind that the elephant was a female, with a 
head far inferior in size and solidity to that of the 
male. 
The temple shot, and that behind the ear, are equally 
fatal in Africa as in Ceylon, provided the hunter can 
approach within ten or twelve yards; but altogether 
the hunting is far more difficult, as the character of the 
country does not admit of an approach sufficiently close 
to guarantee a successful shot. In the forests of Ceylon 
an elephant can be stalked to within a few paces, and 
the shot is seldom fired at a greater distance than ten 
yards : thus accuracy of aim is insured; but in the 
open ground of Africa, an elephant can seldom be 
approached within fifty yards, and should he charge 
the hunter, escape is most difficult. I never found 
African elephants in good jungle, except once, and on 
