'There was a notorious rogue elephant at Doolana about thirty years ago,
whose ferocity was so extreme that he took complete possession of a
certain part of the country adjoining the lake.
He had killed eight or
nine persons, and his whole object in existence appeared to be the
waylaying and destruction of the natives. He was of enormous size, and
was well known by a peculiar flesh-coloured forehead.
`In those days there were no fire-arms in this part of the country;
therefore there was no protection for either life or property from this
monster, who would invade the paddy-fields at night, and actually pull
down the watch-houses, regardless of the blazing fires which are lighted
on the hearth of sand on the summit; these he used to scatter about and
extinguish. He had killed several natives in this manner, involving them
in the common ruin with their watch-houses. The terror created by this
elephant was so extreme that the natives deserted the neighbourhood that
he infested.
`At length many months passed away without his being either seen or
heard of; the people began to hope that he had died from the effect of
poisoned arrows, which had frequently been shot at him from the
watch-houses in high trees; and, by degrees, the terror of his name had
lost its power, and he ceased to be thought of.
`It was in the cool of the evening, about an hour before sunset, that
about twenty of the women from the village were upon the grassy borders
of the lake, engaged in sorting and tying into bundles the rushes which
they had been gathering during the day for making mats. They were on the
point of starting homeward with their loads, when the sudden trumpet of
an elephant was heard, and to their horror they saw the well-known
rogue, with the unmistakable mark upon his forehead, coming down in full
charge upon them. The ground was perfectly open; there were no trees for
some hundred yards, except the jungle from which he was advancing at a
frightful speed. An indiscriminate flight of course took place, and a
race of terror commenced. In a few seconds the monster was among them,
and, seizing a young girl in his trunk, he held her high in the air, and
halted, as though uncertain how to dispose of his helpless victim. The
girl, meanwhile, was vainly shrieking for assistance, and the petrified
troop of women, having gained the shelter of some jungle, gazed
panic-stricken upon the impending fate of their companion.
`To their horror the elephant slowly lowered her in his trunk till near
the ground, when he gradually again raised her, and, bringing her head
into his mouth, a report was heard like the crack of a whip--it was the
sudden crushing of her skull. Tearing the head off by the neck, he
devoured it; and, placing his forefoot upon the body, he tore the arms
and legs from their sockets with his trunk, and devoured every portion
of her.
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