My horse made very good time going around the hill, but not so the elephant. His legs were so short in proportion to his body that it was very difficult for him to brace himself. He screamed with rage, evidently realizing the predicament into which he had been drawn. I reduced my speed, bringing the horse to a halt, and then I took shot after shot at my pursuer, vainly endeavoring to hit the one spot in the front of his head where he is vulnerable. I turned and faced him, letting him come within twenty yards of me, then gave him another shot, and turned my horse down the hill.
It was the elephant's turn to think he had me now, as he whirled and followed at a great rate. Before reaching the foot of the hill I turned my horse quickly to one side, and the elephant, unable to stop, went crashing by me, giving me a chance to plant a couple of bullets behind his shoulder.
Then I wheeled and went a little way up the hill, and next made a quarter-turn to go around it again. There were places on the hill which were steeper than others, and I led my pursuer into the worst spots I could find. One of them was altogether too much for him, his legs on one side being so much heavier than those on the other that he lost his balance, rolled over on his side, and kept on rolling and sliding till he reached the bottom of the hill. If he had been an ordinary herd elephant I think he would have given up at this point, and made off as fast as he could; but with his unusually ugly disposition he was not discouraged at the mishap, but resumed his pursuit of me as soon as he got to his feet.
I may remark by the way that not only is the elephant an unwieldy beast on a side-hill, but a loaded one is very unwieldy when ascending a steep hill. Of course we do not have loaded elephants in Africa, where the animal is not domesticated; but in Asia they are a very common sight. It has happened, and by no means infrequently, when troops have been marching in the mountain regions of India with their heavy baggage carried on the backs of elephants, that the huge beasts have tumbled over backward while ascending steep hills. Observe the next elephant you see in a menagerie, or look at the picture of one, and you will see that his hind legs have a bent and weak appearance, which makes them, at least to the eye, shorter than the forelegs. With his weak hind legs, and a large portion of his body lying aft of his waist, the poor creature has all he can do to keep from going over when ascending a steep incline without any burden whatever. Place a heavy load upon his back, and his equilibrium is gone.
CHAPTER XXII.
HUNTING HIPPOS AND CROCODILES—THE LADIES MISSING
AGAIN—CONJECTURES AS TO THEIR FATE.
The elephant turned and came up the hill again, and as he did so I dismounted and waited for his coming. I let him advance to within less than twenty yards, when I planted a steel-pointed bullet right in the center of his forehead, and laid him low. He fell directly forward, and then his huge body settled toward the base of the hill and rolled partly over.
I remained where I was, with my rifle ready, until my friends came up in response to the waving of my handkerchief. Mirogo and Kalil had watched the performance throughout, and although they were on foot they reached the hill in advance of Harry and Jack, who were on horseback.
My prize was a large one, but, unfortunately, one of his tusks had been partly broken off, probably in an encounter with another elephant. We saved both the tusks, and his feet were cut off and taken home for cooking-purposes. It did not seem to me that the flesh of this elephant would be very tender eating, and I did not try to save any part of it. The Kafirs, however, took a goodly supply, and the rest went to the lions, jackals, and hyenas.
We rode home slowly, and on the way discussed the possibilities of any more elephants being in the neighborhood. The presence of this rogue elephant was indicative of the absence of others, as the rogues are generally far away from the herds. We concluded that we would not go in pursuit of elephants, but turn our attention to the hippopotami, for whose benefit the boat had been constructed.