He Sank Gently Upon His Knees, And Never
Afterwards Moved A Muscle!
His eyes were open, and so bright that I
pushed my finger in them to assure myself that life was perfectly
extinct.
He was exactly thirty-two paces from the rifle, and the ball
had passed in at one temple and out at the other. His height may be
imagined from this rough method of measuring. A gun-bearer climbed upon
his back as the elephant lay upon all-fours, and holding a long stick
across his spine at right angles, I could just touch it with the points
of my fingers by reaching to my utmost height. Thus, as he lay, his back
was seven feet two inches, perpendicular height, from the ground. This
would make his height when erect about twelve feet on the spine-an
enormous height for an elephant, as twelve feet on the top of the back
is about equal to eleven feet six inches at the shoulder. If I had not
fortunately killed this elephant at the first shot, I should have had
enough to do to take care of myself, as he was one of the most
vicious-looking brutes that I ever saw, and he was in the very act of
charging when I shot him.
With these elephants the four-ounce rifle is an invaluable weapon; even
if the animal is not struck in the mortal spot, the force of the blow
upon the head is so great that it will generally bring him upon his
knees, or at least stop him. It has failed once or twice in this, but
not often; and upon those occasions I had loaded with the conical ball.
This, although it will penetrate much farther through a thick substance
than a round ball, is not so effective in elephant-shooting as the
latter. The reason is plain enough. No shot in the head will kill an
elephant dead unless it passes through the brain; an ounce ball will
effect this as well as a six-pound shot; but there are many cases where
the brain cannot be touched, by a peculiar method of carrying the head
and trunk in charging, etc.; a power is then required that by the
concussion will knock him down, or turn him; this power is greater in
the round ball than in the conical, as a larger surface is suddenly
struck. The effect is similar to a man being run through the arm with a
rapier or thrust at with a poker--the rapier will pass through him
almost without his knowledge, but the poker will knock him down. Thus
the pointed conical ball will, perhaps, pass through an elephant's
forehead and penetrate as far as his shoulders, but it will produce no
immediate effect. For buffalo-shooting the conical ball is preferable,
as with the heavy charge of powder that I use it will pass completely
through him from end to end. A four-ounce ball, raking an animal from
stem to stern, must settle him at once.
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