164 the great thick-skinned animals 
“The friend now seemed resolved to do some mischief, and charged 
me furiously, pursuing me to a distance of several hundred yards. I 
therefore deemed it proper to give her a gentle hint to act less offi¬ 
ciously, and, accordingly, having loaded, I approached within thirty 
yards, and gave it her sharp, right and left, behind the shoulder, upon 
which she at once made off with drooping trunk, evidently with a 
mortal wound. I never recur to this day’s elephant shooting without 
AN ELEPHANT ROOTING UP A TREE 
regretting my folly in contenting myself with securing only one ele¬ 
phant. The first was now dying, and could not leave the ground, and 
the second was also mortally wounded, and I had only to follow and 
finish her; but I foolishly allowed her to escape, while I amused myself 
with the first, which kept walking backward, and standing by every 
tree she passed. Two more shots finished her: on receiving them, she 
