160 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch, 
serving them in their natural habitat, I feel that my 
opinion will carry some weight with those competent 
to judge. I should like to state that I express such 
opinions, not out of a wanton love of contradiction, 
but simply with a desire to tell the truth, the whole 
truth, and nothing but the truth, and thereby remove 
flagrantly erroneous conceptions from the minds of 
those interested in such matters. 
Some time ago, I read in a book on big game 
hunting that, in our sense of the word, an elephant 
never rests and that, except in water, he cannot lie 
down on his side, but stands on three legs, swinging 
the fourth. I cannot imagine on what basis the 
writer makes such a statement. My considerable 
experience of elephants has taught me the contrary. 
On numerous occasions, I have come across elephants 
lying down, and one of the illustrations in this book 
depicts an elephant I shot while he was lying 
sleeping. No doubt the shooting of a sleeping 
elephant may seem unsportsmanlike to the reader, 
and I can assure him that my feelings in the matter 
do not differ from his, but it must be remembered 
that I was simply in quest of ivory as a means 
of obtaining a livelihood, and that, under such 
circumstances, scruples have to be brushed aside. 
I hardly think that any man on a similar occasion 
would politely wake the elephant before shooting 
him, and my action in the case is absolutely on 
