The natives of Central Africa have a peculiar method of destroying them, by dropping a species of enormous dagger from the branch of a tree. The blade of this instrument is about 2 feet in length, very sharp on both edges, and about 3 inches in width at the base. It is secured in a handle about 18 inches long, the top of which is knobbed; upon this extremity a mass of well-kneaded tenacious clay mixed with chopped straw is fixed, weighing 10 or 12 lbs., or even more. When a large herd of elephants is discovered in a convenient locality, the hunt is thus arranged:--A number of men armed with these formidable drop-spears or daggers ascend all the largest and most shady trees throughout the neighbouring forest. In a great hunt there may be some hundred trees thus occupied. When all is arranged, the elephants are driven and forced into the forest, to which they naturally retreat as a place of refuge. It is their habit to congregate beneath large shady trees when thus disturbed, in complete ignorance of the fact that the assassins are already among the branches. When an elephant stands beneath a tree thus manned, the hunter drops his weighted spearhead so as to strike the back just behind the shoulder. The weight of the clay lump drives the sharp blade up to the hilt, as it descends from a height of 10 or 12 feet above the animal. Sometimes a considerable number may be beneath one tree, in which case several may be speared in a similar manner. This method of attack is specially fatal, as the elephants, in retreating through the forest, brush the weighted handle of the spear-blade against the opposing branches; these act as levers in cutting the inside of the animal by every movement of the weapon, and should this be well centred in the back there is no escape. There is no animal that is more persistently pursued than the elephant, as it affords food in wholesale supply to the Africans, who consume the flesh, while the hide is valuable for shields; the fat when boiled down is highly esteemed by the natives, and the ivory is of extreme value. No portion of the animal is wasted in Africa, although in Ceylon the elephant is considered worthless, and is allowed to rot uselessly upon the ground where it fell to die. The professional hunters that are employed by European traders shoot the elephant with enormous guns, or rifles, which are generally rested upon a forked stick driven into the ground. In this manner they approach to about 50 yards' distance, and fire, if possible simultaneously, two shots behind the shoulder. If these shots are well placed, the elephant, if female, will fall at once, but if a large male, it will generally run for perhaps 100 or more yards until it is forced to halt, when it quickly falls, and dies from suffocation, if the lungs are pierced.