His skill showed that he was an old hand at the terrible
game of man-hunting: so I determined to run no
undue risk of losing him this time. I accordingly
waited until he got quite close about twenty yards
away and then fired my '303 at his chest. I heard
the bullet strike him, but unfortunately it had no
knock-down effect, for with a fierce growl he turned
and made off with great long bounds. Before he
disappeared from sight, however,I- managed to have
three more shots at him from the magazine rifle, and
another growl told me that the last of these had
also taken effect.
We awaited daylight with impatience, and at the
first glimmer ofdawn we set out to hunt him clown. I
took a native tracker with me, so that I was free to
keep a good look-out, while Mahina followed imme-
diately behind with a Martini carbine. Splashes of
blood being plentiful, we were able to get along
quickly;
and we had not proceeded more than a
quarter of a mile through the jungle when suddenly
a fierce warning growl was heard right in front of
us. Looking cautiously through the bushes,I could
see the man-eater glaring out in our direction, and
showing his tusks in an angry snarl. I at once took
careful aim and fired. Instantly he sprang out and
made a most determined charge clown on us. I
fired again and knocked him over
but in a second he was up once more and coming for me as fast as
lie could in his crippled condition. A third shot
had no apparent effect, so I put out my hand for the
Martini, hoping to stop him with it. To mydismay,
however, it was not there. The terror of the sud-
den charge had proved too much for Mahina, and
both he and the carbine were by this time well on their
way up a tree. In the circumstances there was
nothing to do but follow suit, which I did without
loss of time: and but for the fact that one of my shots
had broken a hind leg, the brute would most certainly
have had me.

Chapter 9