The Delta independent., 1902-12-19

self that have, in my time, seen con-
siderable of them. In fact, it seemed
as If all the elephants in Africa were
assembled at that particular place.
and were bent on my destruction.
With trumpetings which were deaf
ening, they came rushing toward US
from every point of the compass
Flight was impossible, for we were
entirely surrounded. nor was there .
distance Of even ten feet between the
foremost ones. and as the leaders in
this magnificent charge neared US, of
course even this space was narrowed.
Il felt that my time had come. for.
unfortunately Umbolalla, in his haste
to reach. me before l was crushed by
the wounded elephant, had dropped
out arms other than my two army re-
volvers and 'Umbolalla's assegai, a
weapon without which no native Afri-
can can be induced to enter forest.
The bullets from the revolvers would
have proven as effective against the
tough hides Of the elephants as from
boys sling-shot, and did not,
therefore. deem 1t worth an attempt
to use them, nor did it then occur to
me, as l remember 1t now. that had
them with me.
Then 1t was that most remark
able thing occurred. You know what
will happen II you place a number of
moving bodies at an equal distance
from each other, upon the circumfer-
ence Of circle and start them to-
ward the center? Well, that is just
what happened in this case! Those
elephants in the lead reached the cir
conference of the smaller circle at
precisely the same instant, and there
they stuck. utterly unable to approach
an inch nearer! y
tum of their huge bodies served to
wedge them tightly together, but be.
hind the elephants comprising the
inner circle were scores and scores
of others, each possessed by an un-
controllable desire to get at the some
thing which formed the center of the
circle Of which they were the cir
conference. and serving to hold fast
in their positions the elephants on the
inner circle.
Conceive, II you can. the picture
of two men seated upon the carcass
of dead elephant, surrounded by a
living circle Of other elephants. and
these in turn pushed and crowded and
wedged in still more tightly by hun.
dreds of others! The elephants on
the inner circle might as well have
been trees. SO far as their powers OF
locomotion were concerned. With al
most over-powering trumpetings, they
swayed from side to side, lashing
each other with their trunks in their
rage, but absolutely unable to stir
either forward or backward. AL.
though had. but a few moments i.,.
fore. resigned myself to speedy and
apparently inevitable death, the hu.
NOR OF the situation now struck me,
and rolled from the carcass in a
violent paroxysm of laughter.
ITO make long story short, it was
simple matter, considering the DO.
sition in which we had the herd, to
| finish few Of the elephants nearest
us by well-directed shots from my re.
yolvers. as bullet penetrating the
! eye would readily reach the brain. We
had killed perhaps half dozen in
this manner, the bodies retaining
their upright position in the circle
through the pressure Of others, when
Umbolalla reminded me that the re
naming revolver cartridges might
better be saved, and that we could
kill the elephants ~ weH with his
J assegai. His plan was to climb upon