I Met
My Brother Close To His Tail, Which Position He Had With Difficulty
Maintained; But He Could Not Get A Shot, And The Elephant Turned Into
The Jungle, And Disappeared Just As I Escaped Him By A Sharp Turn.
This
was a close shave; had not the ground been perfectly level I must have
been caught to a certainty, and even as it was, he would have had me in
another stride had I not turned from my straight course.
It was nearly
dark, and we returned to the tent, killing several peacocks and ducks on
our way, with which the country swarmed.
We passed a miserable night, not being able to sleep on account of the
mosquitoes, which were in swarms. I was delighted to see the first beam
of morning, when our little winged enemies left us, and a 'chatty' bath
was most enjoyable after the restless tossings of a sleepless night. The
Moormen were out at dawn to look for elephants, the guns were cleaned,
and I looked forward to the return of the trackers with peculiar
interest, as we had determined to 'catch an elephant.' The Moormen were
all full of excitement and preparation. These men were well practised in
this sport, and they were soon busied in examining and coiling their
hide ropes for the purpose.
At about mid-day the trackers returned, having found a herd about five
miles from the village. We were all ready, and we set off without a
moment's delay, our party consisting of my brother, myself, four
gun-bearers, and about thirty Moormen, each of whom carried a coil of
finely-twisted rope made of thongs of raw deer's hide; these ropes were
each twenty yards in length, and about an inch in diameter.
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