After An Hour's Walk, And Just As The Sun Was Setting, A Sudden Crash In
A Jungle A Few Yards From Us Brought The Rifles Upon Full Cock.
The next
moment out came an elephant's head, and I knocked him over by a front
shot.
He had held his head in such a peculiar position that a ball could
not reach the brain, and he immediately re covered himself, and,
wheeling suddenly round, he retreated into the jungle, through which we
could not follow.
We continued to stroll on from glade to glade, expecting to find him;
and, in about a quarter of an hour, we heard the trumpet of an elephant.
Fully convinced that this was the wounded animal, we pushed on towards
the spot; but, on turning a corner of the jungle, we came suddenly upon
a herd of seven of the largest elephants that I ever saw together; they
must have been all bulls. Unfortunately, they had our wind, and, being
close to the edge of a thick thorny jungle, they disappeared like magic.
We gave chase for a short distance, but were soon stopped by the thorns.
We had no chance with them.
It was now dusk, and we therefore hastened towards the tent, seeing
three herds of deer and one of hogs on our way; but it was too dark to
get a shot. The deer were barking in every direction, and the country
was evidently alive with game.
On arrival at the tent, we found that W. and P. had met with no better
luck than ourselves. Two of. our tins of provisions were consumed at
dinner, leaving us only two remaining. Not a moment was to be lost in
pushing forward; and we determined upon a long march on the following
day.
Nov. 25.--Sunrise saw us in the saddles. The coolies, with the tents and
baggage, kept close up with the horses, being afraid to lag behind, as
there was not a semblance of a path, and we depended entirely upon our
small guide, who appeared to have an intimate knowledge of the whole
country. The little Veddah trotted along through the winding glades; and
we travelled for about five miles without a word being spoken by one of
the party, as we were in hopes of coming upon deer. Unfortunately, we
were travelling down wind; we accordingly did not see a single head of
game, as they of course winded us long before we came in view.
We had ridden about eight miles, when we suddenly came upon the fresh
tracks of elephants, and, immediately dismounting, we began to track up.
The ground being very dry, and the grass short and parched, the tracks
were very indistinct, and it was tedious work. We had followed for about
half a mile through alternate glades and belts of jungle, when we
suddenly spied a Veddah hiding behind a tree about sixty yards from us.
The moment that he saw he was discovered, he set off at full speed, but
two of our coolies, who acted as gunbearers, started after him. These
fellows were splendid runners, and, after a fine course, they ran him
down; but when caught, instead of expressing any fear, he seemed to
think it a good joke. He was a rather short but stout-built fellow, and
he was immediately recognised by our little guide, as one of the best
hunters among the Northern Veddahs. He soon understood our object; and,
putting down his bow and arrows and a little pipkin of sour curd (his
sole provision on his hunting trip), he started at once upon the track.
Without any exception he was the best tracker I have ever seen: although
the ground was as hard as a stone, and the footprints constantly
invisible, he went like a hound upon a scent, at a pace that kept us in
an occasional jog-trot. After half an hour's tracking, and doubling
backward and forward in thick jungle, we came up with three elephants.
V. B. killed one, and I killed another at the same moment. V. B. also
fired at the third; but, instead of falling, he rushed towards us, and I
killed him with my remaining barrel, Palliser joining in the shot. They
were all killed in about three seconds. The remaining portion of the
herd were at a distance, and we heard them crashing through the thick
jungle. We followed them for about a mile, but they had evidently gone
off to some other country. The jungle was very thick, and we had a long
journey to accomplish; we therefore returned to the horses and rode on,
our party being now increased by the Veddah tracker.
After having ridden about twenty miles, the last tight of which had been
through alternate forest and jungle, we arrived at a small plain of rich
grass of about a hundred acres: this was surrounded by forest.
Unfortunately, the nights were not moonlight, or we could have killed a
deer, as they came out in immense herds just at dusk. We luckily bagged
a good supply of snipe, upon which we dined, and we reserved our tins.
of meat for some more urgent occasion.
Nov. 26.--All vestiges of open country had long ceased. We now rode for
seventeen miles through magnificent forest, containing the most
stupendous banian trees that I have ever beheld. The ebony trees were
also very numerous, and grew to an immense size. This forest was
perfectly open. There was not a sign of either underwood or grass
beneath the trees, and no track was discernible beyond the notches in
the trees made at some former time by the Veddah's axe. In one part of
this forest a rocky mountain appeared at some period to have burst into
fragments; and for the distance of about a mile it formed the apparent
ruins of a city of giants. Rocks as large as churches lay piled one upon
the other. forming long dark alleys and caves that would have housed
some hundreds of men.
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