It struck the bull in the centre of his forehead, and I expected to see him collapse as the bronze point pierced the brain. 'That one on the right is the biggest,' squeaked Memnon. It was hard to control them and keep them running straight. They had picked up the scent of this strange quarry, and they threw their heads up and crabbed in the traces. He was unperturbed, and concerned only with the trophy of the chase, but the horses were nervous and skittish. Then the bull squealed again, and he ran. How could these obese animals behave differently? Even the lion runs from the hunter until he is wounded or cornered. No other game we had ever hunted had stood to receive our first charge. We both expected the huge animal to run from us as soon as he realized that we menaced him. 'Hi up' I called to Patience and Blade, and they opened up into a gallop. It spun in the air spraying a bright feather of pink blood from the severed neck. The elephant placed one forefoot on the body of the fallen charioteer and, with its trunk, plucked off his head and tossed it aloft like a child's ball. The chariot rolled over and the men were hurled from it. The maimed horse went down and dragged its teammate down with it. He struck the near-side horse across the back, just behind the withers, and broke its spine so cleanly that I heard the vertebrae shatter like a brittle potsherd.

Kratas wheeled away on our left with twenty-five chariots following him in line astern, while we ran on straight at the huge grey beast that confronted us with the yellow shafts of ivory, thick as the columns of the temple of Horus, standing out from his vast grey head. So I raised my fist and gave the hand-command that split the column into two files. This would be an easy kill, and I sensed Tanus' disappointment at the prospect of such poor sport. Perhaps these animals were every bit as dull-witted as they looked. We were right on the bull now, but still he stood his ground. There were broken chariots scattered across the field, for Kratas out on the left had fared no better than we had. I pulled up my horses at the edge of the grove, and we stared back aghast at the carnage of our shattered squadron. Let Kratas have the other, it's good enough for him.' 'You heard the royal command,' Tanus laughed. He pulled the shaft from his own flesh and threw it aside and came on after us, reaching out towards us with the blood-smeared trunk. He merely reached up with his trunk and - gripped the shaft of the arrow with the tip, as a man might do with his hand. When they spread their ears they seemed to block out the sky, like a dark grey thundercloud. It was only then that I realized the true size of them. The two old bulls we had selected had sensed our approach and turned to face us.

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