Now in this position no light gun could have killed that
elephant; the ball had to pass through the roots of the upper
grinders, and keep its course through hard bones and tough
membranes for about two feet before it could reach the brain; but
the line was all right, and the heavy metal and charge of powder
kept the ball to its work.
This is the power which every elephant-gun should possess: it
should have an elephant's head under complete command in every
attitude.
There is another advantage in heavy metal; a heavy ball will
frequently stun a vicious elephant when in full charge, when a
light ball would not check him; his quietus is then soon arranged
by another barrel. Some persons, however, place too much
confidence in the weight of the metal, and forget that it is
necessary to hold a powerful rifle as straight as the smallest
gun. It is then very common during a chase of a herd to see the
elephants falling tolerably well to the shots, but on a return
for their tails, it is found that the stunned brutes have
recovered and decamped.
Conical balls should never be used for elephants; they are more
apt to glance, and the concussion is not so great as that
produced by a round ball. In fact there is nothing more perfect
for sporting purposes than a good rifle from a first-rate maker,
with a plain ball of from No. 12 to No. 10. There can be no
improvement upon such a weapon for the range generally required
by a good shot.
I am very confident that the African elephant would be killed by
the brain-shot by Ceylon sportsmen with as much case as the
Indian species. The shape of the head has nothing whatever to do
with the shooting, provided the guns are powerful and the hunter
knows where the brain lies.
When I arrived in Ceylon one of my first visits was to the
museum at Colombo where I carefully examined the transverse
sections of an elephant's skull, until perfectly acquainted with
its details. From the museum I cut straight to the
elephant-stables and thoroughly examined the head of the living
animal, comparing it in my own mind with the skull, until I was
thoroughly certain of the position of the brain and the
possibility of reaching it from any position.
An African sportsmen would be a long time in killing a Ceylon
elephant, if he fired at the long range described by most
writers; in fact, he would not kill one out of twenty that he
fired at in such a jungle-covered country as Ceylon, where, in
most cases, everything depends upon the success of the first
barrel.
