98 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
perceptibly under the furious onslaught, appeared 
for some moments as if he were going to fall, but, 
recovering his equilibrium, and as if fully intent on 
avenging the injury, returned the charge and dealt 
his foe a crushing blow on the shoulder, side¬ 
ways, with his tusk. The punishment must have 
been severe, for the younger elephant at once 
backed out of the fray, but, regaining his courage, 
pluckily resumed the contest by rushing forward and 
giving the big fellow a tremendous prod in the 
shoulder, the force of the thrust snapping off a piece 
of his tusk. This broken portion I afterwards found, 
and keep as a memento of the only elephant fight I 
ever saw. 
. 
Seeing that the remaining bulls were growing 
uneasy, and fearful lest they should get a whiff of 
tainted air, I decided to bring this unique contest to 
a close, so raising my rifle and taking careful aim at 
the large tusker, who was standing broadside on and 
presenting a perfect shot, I fired, dropping him 
instantly with a bullet through the brain. I im¬ 
mediately emptied my second barrel into his erstwhile 
antagonist, breaking his shoulder and snatching my 
light rifle from Simba, ended the animal’s career. 
The remaining elephants, scared by the fusillade, 
had already disappeared, so before following them 
up, we examined the slain. On the larger one’s 
shoulder, we found a huge gash about three inches 
