I Cannot
See Much Difference In Character Between The Indian And The
African Species; It Is The Fashion For Some People To Assert That
The Elephant Is An Innocent And Harmless Creature, That, Like The
Giraffe It Is Almost A Sin To Destroy.
I can only say that,
during eight years' experience in Ceylon, and nearly five years'
in Africa, I have found that elephants are the most formidable
animals with which a sportsman has to contend.
The African
species is far more dangerous than the Indian, as the forehead
shot can never be trusted; therefore the hunter must await the
charge with a conviction that his bullet will fail to kill.
The African elephant is about a foot higher than the average of
the Indian species. The bulls of the former are about ten feet
six inches at the shoulder; the females are between nine feet and
nine feet six. Of course there are many bulls that exceed this
height, and I have seen some few of both species that might equal
twelve feet, but those are the exceptional Goliaths.
The tusks of elephants vary considerably, and there appears to be
no rule to determine a reason for their size and quality. In
Abyssinia and Taka, a single tusk of a bull elephant seldom
exceeds forty pounds, nor do they average more than twenty-five,
but in Central Africa they average about forty, and I have seen
them upwards of one hundred and fifty pounds. The largest that I
have had the good fortune to bag was eighty pounds; the
fellow-tusk was slightly below seventy.
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