One Of The Most Disgusting Sights Is A Dead Elephant Four Or Five Days
After The Fatal Shot.
In a tropical climate, where decomposition
proceeds with such wonderful rapidity, the effect of the sun upon such a
mass can be readily understood.
The gas generated in the inside distends
the carcass to an enormous size, until it at length bursts and becomes
in a few hours afterwards one living heap of maggots. Three weeks after
an elephant is killed, nothing remains but his bones and a small heap of
dried cases, from which the flies have emerged when the time arrived for
them to change from the form of maggots. The sight of the largest of the
animal creation being thus reduced from life to nothingness within so
short a space of time is an instance of the perishable tenure of
mortality which cannot fail to strike the most unthinking. The majesty,
the power, and the sagacity of the enormous beast are scattered in the
myriads of flies which have fed upon him.
It is a delightful change after a sporting trip of a few weeks in the
hot climates to return again to the cool and even temperature of Newera
Ellia. The tent is a pleasant dwelling when no other can be obtained,
but the comfort of a good house is never so much appreciated as on the
return from the jungle.
One great pleasure in the hunting at Newera Ellia is the ease with which
it is obtained. In fact, the sport lies at the very door. This may be
said to be literally true and not a facon de parler, as I once killed an
elk that jumped through a window. It was a singular incident. The hounds
found three elk at the same time on the mountain at the back of the
hotel at Newera Ellia. The pack divided: several hounds were lost for
two days, having taken their elk to an impossible country, and the rest
of the pack concentrated upon a doe, with the exception of old Smut, who
had another elk all to himself. This elk, which was a large doe, he
brought down from the top of the mountain to the back of the hotel, just
as we had killed the other, which the pack had brought to the same
place. A great number of persons were standing in the hotel yard to view
the sport, when old Smut and his game appeared, rushing in full fly
through the crowd. The elk was so bothered and headed that she went
through the back door of the hotel at full gallop, and Smut, with his
characteristic sagacity, immediately bolted round to the front of the
house, naturally concluding that if she went in at the back door she
must come out at the front. He was perfectly right; the old dog stood on
the lawn before the hotel, watching the house with great eagerness. In
the meantime the elk was galloping from room to room in the hotel,
chased by a crowd of people, until she at length took refuge in a lady's
bedroom, from which there was no exit, as the window was closed. The
crash of glass may be imagined as an animal as large as a pony leaped
through it; but old Smut was ready for her, and after a chase of a few
yards he pulled her down. This is the only instance that I have ever
known of an elk entering a building, although it is a common occurrence
with hunted deer in England. An elk found on the top of Pedro talla
Galla, which rises from the plain of Newera Ellia, will generally run
straight down the mountain, and, unless headed, he will frequently come
to bay in the river close to the hotel, which is situated at the foot of
the mountain. This, however, is not a rule without an exception, as the
elk on some occasions takes a totally different direction, and gives a
hard day's work. It was on July 27, 1852, that I had a run of this kind.
It was six A.M. when my youngest brother and I started from the foot of
Pedro to ascend the mountain. The path is three miles long, through
jungle the whole way to the summit. There were fresh tracks of elk near
the top of the mountain; the dew lay heavily upon the leaves, and the
scent was evidently strong, as Merriman and Ploughboy, the two leading
hounds, dashed off upon it, followed by the whole pack. In a few minutes
we heard them in full cry about a quarter of a mile from us, going
straight down the hill. Giving them a good holloa, we started off down
the path at a round pace, and in less than a quarter of an hour we were
at the foot of the mountain on the plain. Here we found a number of
people who had headed the elk (a fine buck) just as he was breaking
cover, and he had turned back, taking off to some other line of country
at a great pace, as we could not hear even a whimper. This was enough to
make a saint swear, and, blessing heartily the fellows who had headed
him, we turned back and retraced our steps up the mountain to listen for
the cry of the pack among the numerous ravines which furrow the sides.
It was of no use; we could hear nothing but the mocking chirp of birds
and the roaring of the mountain torrents. Not a sign of elk or dogs. The
greyhounds were away with the pack, and knowing that the dogs would
never leave him till dark, we determined not to give them up. No less
than three times in the course of the day did we reascend the mountain
to listen for them in vain. We went up to the top of the Newera Ellia
Pass, in the hope of hearing them in that direction, but with the same
want of success.
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