the same moment
that I passed it I was almost under the trunk of a single bull
elephant, who was barking the stem with his tusk as high as he could
reach, with his head thrown back. I saw in an instant that the only
road to his brain lay through his upper jaw, in the position in which
he was standing; and knowing that he would discover me in another
moment, I took the eccentric line for his brain, and fired upward
through his jaw. He fell stone dead, with the silk patch of the rifle
smoking in the wound.

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 mu