I Proposed That We Should, In The Meantime, Start At
Daylight On The Tracks Of The Two Elephants That We Had Seen Upon The
Hills, Taking Wallace And A Few Of The Best Coolies As Gun-Bearers.
Wallace Is A Cochin Man, Who Prides Himself Upon A Mixture Of Portuguese
Blood.
He speaks six different languages fluently, and is without
exception the best interpreter and the most plucky gun-bearer that I
have ever seen.
He has accompanied me through so many scenes with
unvarying firmness that I never have the slightest anxiety about my
spare guns if he is there, as he keeps the little troop of gun-bearers
in their places in a most methodical manner.
At break of day on the following morning we were upon the tracks of the
two elephants, but a slight shower during the night had so destroyed
them that we found it was impossible to follow them up. We therefore
determined to examine the country thoroughly for fresh tracks, and we
accordingly passed over many miles of ground, but to little purpose, as
none were to be seen.
We at length discovered fresh traces of a herd in thick thorny jungle,
which was too dense to enter, but marking their position, we determined
to send out watchers on the following day to track them into better
country. Having killed a deer, we started him off with some coolies that
we had taken with us on this chance, and we continued our route till 3
P.M. We had lost our way, and, not having any guide, we had no notion of
the position of the tents; the heat of the day had been intense, and,
not having breakfasted, we were rather anxious about the direction.
Strolling through this beautiful expanse of Park country, we directed
our course for a large rocky mountain, at a few miles' distance, at the
base of which I knew lay the route from the tent to Nielgalla. To our
great satisfaction we found the path at about 4 P.M., and we walked
briskly along at the foot of the mountain in the direction of our
encampment, which was about four miles distant.
We had just arrived at an angle of the mountain, which, in passing, we
were now leaving to our left, when we suddenly halted, our attention
having been arrested by the loud roaring of elephants in a jungle at the
foot of the hills, within a quarter of a mile of us. The roaring
continued at intervals, reverberating among the rocks like distant
thunder, till it at length died away to stillness.
We soon arrived in the vicinity of the sound, and shortly discovered
tracks upon a hard sandy soil, covered with rocks and overgrown with a
low, but tolerably open jungle at the base of the mountain. Following
the tracks, we began to ascend steep flights of natural steps formed by
the successive layers of rock, which girded the foot of the mountain;
these were covered with jungle, interspersed with large detached masses
of granite, which in some places formed alleys through which the herd
had passed.
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