>775- agreed in this, that thefe animals, when hunted, endea- November. ^ i i * voured, with the greateft care, to avoid rrmudy rivers, probably that they might not flick faft in the ooze ; while, on the other hand, they induftrioufly fought out the larger rivers, over which they fwam with great eafe.. For not- withftanding that the elephant, from his feet, and the polition of his limbs, does not feem to be adapted for fwimming when he is out of his depth in the water, his body and head being entirely funk under the furface, yet he is in lefs danger of being drowned than other land animals, as he carries his long trunk raifed above the furface of the water in order to breathe, and can fleer his courfe in it by means of this appendage; which at the fame time forms his nofe or organ of fmell, and is endued with a great olfactory power. It has confequently been obferved, that when feveral elephants have fwam over a river at the fame time, they have all found the way very well; and have been able at the fame time to avoid running foul of each other, though their heads and eyes have been all the while under water. It is merely for the fake of the teeth that the elephants are hunted by the colonifts, though at the fame time they contrive to preferve the fleih for their fervants, viz. their flaves and Hottentots. And as the larger elephants teeth weigh from one hundred to one hundred and fifty Dutch pounds, which may be difpofed of to government for as many gilders, ib that a man may fometimes earn three hundred gilders at one ihot, it is no wonder that the hunters of elephants are often fo extremely venturefome. A peafant (now dead) who had hunted a large elephant over the mouth o f Zondags-rivier, where it is very deep and and broad, was bold enough to purfue it w ith his horfe, NoIv7e75[ier and got over v e ry fafe, th ou gh h e carried w ith him his h e a v y gu n on his ihoulder, and could not fwim himfelf. It was faid, however, that he got nothing by this bold and daring ad ion, as the elephant took refuge in a dole thorny thicket, where the hunter neither could nor dared to creep after it. It is only on the plains that th e y can fucceed in attackin g the elephants; in the woods, where the attack cannot be made otherwife than on foot, the chace is always more dangerous. T h e hunter muft take great care to g e t on th e lee fide o f the animal, or againft th e w in d ; fo r i f b y means o f the wind he once gets fcent o f the hunter, he rulhes d ired ly on h im , endeavouring to - k ill h im , efpe- cially i f (as frequently is the cafe) he has ever been h u n ted before ; and thus has had an opportunity o f knowing, from experience, h ow dangerous and bold thefe m a rk f- men are. More than one o f thefe daring men have, b y this means, been b rou ght into th e greateft danger. D i r k M a r c u s , the man I mentioned before as liv in g at Hagel- c r a a lga v e me an account o f one o f his adventures o f the chafe as fo llow s : te Once on a time in my youth, faid he, when from a hill covered with bullies near a wood, I was endeavouring to fteal upon an elephant to the leeward o f me, on a fudden I heard from the lee fide, a frightful cry or noife; and though at that time I was one o f the boldeft of ele- phant-hunters in the whole country, I cannot deny, but that 1 was in a terrible taking, infomuch that I believe the hair flood quite an end on my head. At the fame time it T t 2 appeared
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