Poor fellows! we
were not surprised at their wishing the elephants destroyed; the
repair of their fragile dam was now a daily occupation, for the
elephants, as though out of pure mischief, had chosen this spot
as their thoroughfare to and from the lake, and the dam was
trodden down in all directions.
We found that the margin of the forest was everywhere flooded to
a width of about two hundred yards, after which it was tolerably
dry; we therefore returned to our former post.
It struck me that the only way to secure a shot at the herd would
be to employ a ruse, which I had once practiced successfully some
years ago. Accordingly we sent the greater part of the villagers
for about a half a mile along the edge of the lake, with orders
to shout and make a grand hullaballoo on arriving at their
station. It seemed most probable that on being disturbed the
elephants would retreat to the forest by their usual
thoroughfare; we accordingly stood on the alert, ready for a rush
to any given point which the herd should attempt in their
retreat.
Some time passed in expectation, when a sudden yell broke from
the far point, as though twenty demons had cramp in the stomach.
