When they saw that their trunks would not reach the foliage, they decided upon uprooting the tree, and, thanks to their marvellous instinct, they set about one of those extraordinary operations, of which Jules Poncet, the famous elephant hunter, was a frequent witness. One of them went down on his knees at the foot of the mimosa, buried his tusk in the ground amongst the roots, as if he were placing a battering ram in position there, and slowly raised his massive head, his comrade, meanwhile, encircling the stem with his trunk, shaking it violently, and dragging it by degrees towards himself.
A few seconds sufficed to bend down the gigantic tree, and with it fell the man, who, if indeed he breathed after his terrible fall, was destined to inevitable death beneath the feet of his enemies.
The Europeans could no longer remain passive; they took aim, and fired simultaneously. Every shot told, but not one was mortal.
In fact, except from the streams of blood which flowed from their wounds, it was impossible to discover that they were hit, for they continued their work, without turning towards the hunters, but uttering all the time shrill and prolonged screams.
Then MM. de Morin and Périères unhesitatingly advanced a few yards into the open and fired a second time.
The elephant, whose trunk was round the tree, fell in a heap with a bullet in his breast. The other, whose tusk was buried amongst the mimosa roots, made a supreme effort, and, the tree, uprooted, after having described a circle in the air, fell on the ground.
Then the enraged animal, now free to work his will, rushed with uplifted trunk to the top of the fallen tree, and, ransacking the foliage, seized the negro and crushed him beneath his feet.
But his rage was not appeased, and now it was directed towards the
Europeans.
MM. Périères and de Morin, as soon as they saw that the negro was dead, rejoined Madame de Guéran, and ceased firing, wishing to keep their cartridges to defend themselves and make a last attempt to conquer their almost invulnerable enemy.
The animal had turned once more toward the hunters, whom the high grass, now trampled down, no longer hid from his view. His body, once black as ebony, had become red; the blood welled from out his wounds, and, after coursing down his limbs, trickled on the grass of the clearing, and formed a rivulet of blood. His ears, cut to ribands by the bullets, lay flat along his body. His trunk alone had escaped, but he was incessantly touching his wounds with it, as if to stanch them and ease his pain, and each time he withdrew it it was covered with blood. His shrill trumpetings awoke the echoes of the forest, and must have struck terror into the inhabitants of it. At length, with a terrible scream, more appalling than all the others, he rushed towards the spot where the Europeans had taken refuge.