Immense Rocks Lay Scattered In Heaps Over The Surface, Forming Chasms By The Intervening Crevices Of Five And Six Feet In Depth; From These Crevices The Long Lemon Grass Grew In Dense Tufts, Completely Hiding The Numerous Pitfalls, And Making The Retreat Of The Elephants And Our Pursuit Equally Difficult.

I was close to the tail of a large elephant, who was picking his way carefully over the treacherous surface, and I was waiting for an opportunity for a shot should he turn his head, when I suddenly pitched head first into one of these rocky holes.

Here I scrambled for some seconds before I could extricate myself, as I was carrying my heavy four-ounce rifle; and at length, upon recovering my footing, I found that all the elephants had gained the jungle, except the one that I had been following. He was about twenty yards from me, and was just entering the jungle, but I got a splendid shot at him behind the ear and rolled him over.

It was very nearly dark, and we could not of course follow the herd any farther; we therefore reloaded, and turned towards the direction of the cave; this was plainly shown by a distant blaze of light from the night-fires, which were already lit. We were walking slowly along parallel to the jungle, into which the elephants had retreated, when my man Wallace, who is a capital gun-bearer, halloed out, `Here comes an elephant!' and in the dim twilight I could see an elephant bowling at a great pace towards us, but close to the jungle.

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