This
is superior to all mixtures for that purpose, as it combines hardness
with extra weight; the lead must be melted in a pot by itself to a red
heat, and the proportion of quicksilver must be added a ladle-full at a
time, and stirred quickly with a piece of iron just in sufficient
quantity to make three or four bullets. If the quicksilver is subjected
to a red heat in the large lead-pot, it will evaporate. The only
successful forehead shot that I made at an African elephant was shortly
after my arrival in the Abyssinian territory on the Settite river; this
was in thick thorny jungle, and an elephant from the herd charged with
such good intention, that had she not been stopped, she must have caught
one of the party. When within about five yards of the muzzle, I killed
her dead by a forehead shot with a hardened bullet as described, from a
Reilly No. 10 rifle, and we subsequently recovered the bullet in the
VERTEBRAE OF THE NECK!
This extraordinary penetration led me to suppose that I should always
succeed as I had done in Ceylon, and I have frequently stood the charge
of an African elephant until close upon me, determined to give the
forehead shot a fair trial, but I have ALWAYS failed, except in the
instance now mentioned; it must also be borne in mind that the elephant
was a female, with a head far inferior in size and solidity to that of
the male.
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