Should they charge, there would not
be a possibility of escape, as the hooked thorns rendered any sudden
movement almost impracticable.
In another moment there was a tremendous
crash; and with a sound like a whirlwind the herd dashed through the
crackling jungle. I rushed forward, as I was uncertain whether they were
in advance or retreat. Leaving a small sample of my nose upon a kittar
thorn, and tearing my way, with naked arms, through what, in cold blood,
would have appeared impassable, I caught sight of two elephants leading
across my path, with the herd following in a dense mass behind them.
Firing a shot at the leading elephant, simply in the endeavor to check
the herd, I repeated with the left-hand barrel at the head of his
companion. This staggered him, and threw the main body into confusion.
They immediately closed up in a dense mass, and bore everything before
them; but the herd exhibited merely an impenetrable array of hind
quarters wedged together so firmly that it was impossible to obtain a
head or shoulder shot.
I was within fifteen paces of them, and so compactly were they packed
that with all their immense strength they could not at once force so
extensive a front through the tough and powerful branches of the dense
kittar. For about half a minute they were absolutely checked, and they
bored forward with all their might in their determination to open a road
through the matted thorns.
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