Giving Two Or Three Shrill
Trumpets, He Paced Quickly To And Fro Before The Jungle, As Though He
Were Guarding The Entrance.
To enter the high grass to attack him, would
have been folly, as he was fully prepared, and when once in the tangled
mass we could not have seen him until he was upon us; we therefore
amused ourselves for about ten minutes by shouting at him.
During this
time he continued pacing backwards and forwards, screaming almost
without intermission; and having suddenly made up his mind to stand this
bullying no longer, he threw his trunk up in the air and charged
straight at us. The dust flew like smoke from the dry grass as he rushed
through it; but we were well prepared to receive him. Not wishing him to
come to close quarters with my useless leg, I gave him a shot with my
two-ounce rifle, at about 120 paces. It did not even check him, but it
had the effect of making him lower his trunk, and he came on at
undiminished speed. Taking the four-ounce rifle from Wallace, I heard
the crack of the ball as it entered his head at about 100 yards. He was
down! A general shout of exclamation rose from Banda and all the
gun-bearers. I reloaded the four-ounce immediately, and the ball was
just rammed home when we heard the supposed dead elephant roaring on the
ground. In another moment he regained his legs and stood with his
broadside exposed to us, stunned with the heavy ball in his head.
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