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AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 
that does charge, especially a bull, when it has actually 
begun its charge, is more dangerous than a lion and much 
more dangerous than an elephant; that a single elephant is 
less dangerous to attack than a single buffalo, and that the 
charge of an elephant is more easily stopped or evaded than 
that of a buffalo; but that elephants are very much more apt 
themselves to attack than are buffalo, and that, therefore, 
there is more danger in the first approach to an elephant 
herd than is the case with buffalo. If a big tusker is in a 
herd of cows it may be impossible to kill him, because the 
cows charge with such savageness as soon as they detect the 
approach of the hunter—and, of course, a herd is much 
more apt than a single beast to detect him. At the sound of 
a shot the cows of a vicious herd, screaming and trumpeting, 
crash through the jungle in all directions, and may quar¬ 
ter to and fro down-wind, trying to catch the scent of their 
enemy. If a man is caught he is frequently killed; but often 
he escapes, for the very hugeness of an elephant’s bulk makes 
it unfit to cope with so small an antagonist. An elephant is 
more easily turned than a buffalo, when in full charge, al¬ 
though an occasional elephant, usually a vicious bull, will 
charge right through the shots, taking the punishment of the 
heavy bullets without flinching, and getting home. Of 
course, a ball that would cripple a charging lion may have 
no effect on the huge bulk of an elephant or the sinewy 
mass of a buffalo. 
An elephant that means mischief may charge in silence, 
the trunk hanging straight down and the great ears cocked 
at right angles to the head; it may extend the trunk, scream¬ 
ing or coming on silently; or it may scream loudly, and make 
the actual charge with the trunk curled, and this not only 
