d one leader in a long line, exhibiting an appearance so
grand and striking, that any description, however brilliant, must fail
to convey to the mind of the reader an adequate idea of the reality.
Increasing my pace, I shot alongside, at the same time riding well out
from the elephants, the better to obtain an inspection of their tusks.
It was a difficult matter to decide which of them I should select, for
every elephant seemed better than his neighbor; but, on account of the
extraordinary size and beauty of his tusks, I eventually pitched upon a
patriarchal bull, which, as is usual with the heaviest, brought up the
rear. I presently separated him from his comrades, and endeavored to
drive him in a northerly direction. There is a peculiar art in driving
an elephant in the particular course which you may fancy, and, simple as
it may seem, it nevertheless requires the hunter to have a tolerable
idea of what he is about. It is widely different from driving in an
eland, which also requires judicious riding: if you approach too near
your elephant, or shout to him, a furious charge will certainly ensue,
while, on the other hand, if you give him too wide a berth, the chances
are that you lose him in the jungle, which, notwithstanding his size, is
a very simple matter, and, if once lost sight of, it is more than an
even bet that the hunter will never again obtain a glimpse of him. The
ground being favorable, Kleinboy called to me to commence firing,
remarking, very prudently, that he was probably making for some jungle
of wait-a-bits, where we might eventually lose him. I continued,
however, to reserve my fire until I had hunted him to what I considered
to be a safe distance from the two old fellows which we had at first
discovered.

At length closing with him, I dared him to charge, which he instantly
did in fine style, and as he pulled up in his career I yelled to him a
note of bold defiance, and cantering alongside, again defied him to the
combat. It was thus the fight began, and the ground being still
favorable, I opened a sharp fire upon him, and in about a quarter of an
hour twelve of my bullets were lodged in his fore-quarters. He now
evinced strong symptoms of approaching dissolution, and stood catching
up the dust with the point of his trunk, and throwing it in clouds above
and around him. At such a moment it is extremely dangerous to approach
an elephant on foot, for I have remarked that, although nearly dead, he
can