4-jO BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AXD PRODUCTIONS. 



a rice bin in the village, and seriously injuring by a charge his Muhout, who -was 

 endeavouring -with a spear to repel him, he eventually returned to near I'rome, and 

 was, I believe, in a month or so secured by a Bunnan ; but again, I think, broke 

 loose and was shot, but of this I am not sure. Before reacliing my camp, he came 

 across two men asleep on the road-side, one of whom he killed, but whether he killed 

 many more I do not know, but the damage he did was immense. Now all this loss 

 of life and propertj* and the sort of state of siege the wliole country was thrown into 

 whilst he was at large, might have been avoided by a little common sense on the part 

 of the owner, the Commissariat Department. All di.sastrous consequences would 

 have been avoided, had the animal, when first becoming ' must,' been sent out into tlie 

 forest, where water was procurable, and one or two female elephants been turned out 

 vnth simple shackles on their I'ect to keep him company. Instead of being a source 

 of terror and annoyance to a whole district for mouths, he would, if treated as 

 suggested, have been reclaimable in the course of a few weeks. 



A somewhat similar adventure happened to me on the opposite side of the river 

 in the ilayanoung district. I was marching for a particular village, when I was 

 warned by some men to be on the watch, as a ' mtist ' Elephant belonging to some 

 timber merchants was about. I accordingly pushed on ahead of my three female 

 baggage elephants, towards a village on my road, and was met at its outskirts by the 

 heatlman, who told me the elephant in question was on the other side of his village, 

 standing in the very road I had to take, and, sure enough, on going through the village, 

 there he was, standing waiting for us ! I had just time to si'ud back to order a halt, 

 and after a brief consultation, altered my line of march to another 'sdllage, without his 

 catching sight of my elephants, though he may have got their wind. That night 

 passed ^vithout interruption, and the next day I reached the village I should have, 

 the previous day, but for this interruption. I could at first get no tidings of the 

 whereabout of my friend ; but towards evening, men dropping in, reported having 

 seen him in the neiglibourhood, and wo all prepared for an anxious night. As evening 

 drew on, other elepliauts were brought in by various owners, and securely fastened up 

 in the village. My three elephants were tied up to trees and houses, and I requested 

 a police-guard might be furnished during the night in case the animal should attack 

 us. Having seen all things snug, as sailors would say, and eaten my dinner in a 

 'Ziat' just outside the village, I took my usual evening walk up and down a little 

 path close to the 'Ziat,' bounded on each side by high grass, but close to the village, 

 and within sight and hearing of my people. I had walked backwards and forwards 

 about ten minutes, and it was getting dark, when, as I turned to return to the ' Ziat,' 

 I heard a ' flap,' which I recognized, or thought I did, as that of an elephant's ear 

 thrown back on his neck. I instantly stood motionless and listened intently, but as 

 no other sound was audible, I thought I was mistaken, and that it was a dead palm- 

 leaf which must have flapped on a tree close by. I therefore returned to my ' Ziat,' 

 and was on the point of calling for tea, when a terrible uproar ensued, and I heard a 

 heavy tramp close by, followed by the shrill trumpetings of all the elephants in the 

 village, the rending sound of ropes and chains, the shouts of men, and here and there 

 a shot or two. Before I had time to recover from my surprise, I saw the form of Tuy 

 Burmese interpreter flash past me, his long hair streaming comet-wise behind him, 

 revolver in hand, and disappear into the jungle, followed by some of my pluckiest 

 servants. I at once saw the extent of our misfortune. The ' must ' Elephant had 

 crept stealthily up, and when I heard him, was probably not five paces from me, and 

 had a few minutes later charged into the village, causing every elephant to burst its 

 bonds, and take to flight into the jungle. My three had all disappeared, but as one 

 was very wild and difficult to retake when loose, I had luckily put additional shackles 

 on her fore feet, which prevented her going far ; but my largest female was missiug, 

 and next day we found she had been carried otf, and 1 did not recover her from lier 

 ravisher for upwards of a fortnight, and eventually she produced a calf. Had 

 the ele];ihant which gave us all this trouble been a wild one, it would have been 

 easy to have shot it ; but as it was a valuable animal, the property of some timber 

 merchants, I had to wait patiently till I could secure my female, and this was not 

 easy, as she was jealously guarded by the other, and my men could not get near her. 



