“You are right, Regundo,” I exclaimed. “Besides one man must never point his gun at another, even though he calls it playing. It is a very bad sort of playing. People are often killed in that manner. Then the man who was playing with his gun, says that he thought it was not loaded. A man who points his gun towards another man ought to be punished.”
“Yes, he ought,” shouted the hunters with one voice. “We hunters never play in that way with our guns.”
Then came another pause, after which Regundo continued: “A man who has not a cool head must never be a hunter. In the presence of a dangerous beast he is lost himself if he loses his head, for he cannot shoot straight. A cool head is very necessary in the presence of an elephant, a ngina, a buffalo, or a leopard, especially if you come suddenly upon them, or when they attack or charge you.”
At the end of these words of wisdom from Regundo, all shouted: “That is so, that is so.”
“Yes,” I said, “no man is a good hunter unless he has a cool head; otherwise he is sure to be killed.”
After this little interruption Regundo continued: “Hunters have to be particularly careful when they hunt elephants, especially a bull or ‘rogue elephant,’ for these often charge even when the bullet is sure to cause their death afterwards. The best thing that can happen is to kill them on the spot, then there is no danger ahead. A man must be particularly cool-headed when an elephant charges. He must stand perfectly still, looking at the beast when he comes towards him and must know exactly the time to move, and then retreat three steps, if he is not protected by a tree, just in time for the elephant to pass before him. Elephants cannot make a sudden sharp turn or stop at once when they charge. They go straight ahead and they do not return to charge the enemy a second time. One must be exceedingly careful not to approach the elephant, though he appears to be dead, for sometimes he gets up suddenly and charges, and if the hunter has not a clear field, or is encumbered by creepers or trees and cannot step backward, then the elephant will impale him, trample upon his body, or kill him with his trunk.”
“Yes, yes, that is surely so,” shouted the hunters. “Mbango was killed in that manner, two dry seasons ago. We found him dead, the elephant having trampled upon him. One of his feet had been entangled in a creeper, and he could not step backward in time.”
Regundo finished his speech by saying: “Hunters must always be very careful in shooting, so that the bullet does not hit on its way some young tree or creeper, for then the bullet not only loses its force, but deviates from its course. But,” he added thoughtfully, “all precautions are useless if witchcraft comes in, for misfortune follows the man who has been bewitched.”
“Sometimes he suddenly gets up and charges”