en by the
tall grass and the thickly-growing scrub trees that grew on all sides.

The wooded character of the country rendered it easy to stalk the
elephant herd, and with careful attention to the wind, the four hunters
and their gunbearers advanced under cover until the elephants could be
seen and studied. Each of the four hunters carried a large
double-barreled cordite rifle that fires a five-hundred-grain bullet,
backed up by nearly a hundred grains of cordite.

As was expected, the herd consisted solely of cows and calves. There
were eight cow elephants and two _totos_, or calves, a circumstance that
was particularly fortunate, as Colonel Roosevelt was expected to secure
one or two cows for the group, while some one else was to get the calf.

For some moments the hunting party studied the group of animals and
finally decided which ones were the best for the group.

Two of the largest cows and the calf of one of them were selected. It is
always the desire of collectors who kill groups of animals for museums
to kill the calf and the mother at the same time whenever practicable,
so that neither one is left to mourn the loss of the other. It is one of
the unpleasant features of group collecting that calves must be killed,
but the collector justifies himself in the thought that many thousands
of people will be instructed and interested in the group when it is
finished.

Elephant hunting is considered by many African hunters as being the most
dangerous of all hunting. When a man is wounded by an elephant he is
pretty likely to die, whereas the wounds inflicted by lions are often
not necessarily mortal ones. Also, in fighting a wounded lion one may
sometimes take refuge in the low branches of a tree, but with a wounded
elephant there is rarely time to climb high enough and quick enough to
escape the frenzied animal. In elephant shooting, also, the hunter
endeavors to approach within twenty or thirty yards, so that the bullets
may be placed exactly where their penetration will be the most
instantaneously deadly. Consequently, a badly placed bullet may merely
infuriate the elephant without giving the hunter time to gain a place of
safety, and thus be much worse than if the hunter had entirely missed
his mark.

Among elephant hunters it is considered more dangerous to attack a cow
elephant than a bull, for the cow is always ready and eager to defend
its calf, hence when Colonel Roosevelt prepared to open fire on a cow