170 LOST IN THE FOREST 



came to say the elephant was in the lines, and was interrupting work ; so I 

 loaded one of the shells — a copper-bottle — with detonating powder, and 

 went after him. I found him stalking about amongst the new elephants, 

 and the men hiding ; so, getting within four yards of his tail, I whistled. 

 As he turned I fired the shell into his temple and dropped him dead. 



On the 13th of February my detachment of elephants marched from 

 camp No. 12. On the 17th we found two dead elephants, both young ones, 

 of Sergeant Carter's detachment, in the river-bed. The Myanee was deeper 

 at this part than it had been higher up, and the exposure and fatigue of 

 marching through water almost covering them had been too much for the 

 youngsters. They were lying on a spit of sand, loathsome masses of mag- 

 gots. They had died on the 10th; and as the wash caused by the elephants 

 passing sent wavelets over the spit, the maggots floated off in tens of thou- 

 sands, and the still water all along the banks was soon filled with them. As 

 we camped two hundred yards below, on the same side of the river as the 

 carcasses, the men could scarcely get water for some time without maggots 

 in it. 



On the 19 th the morning was overcast and it thundered, whilst a fresh 

 came down the river, showing it had been raining in the parts we had 

 recently left. The river was too deep for marching, so I ordered a halt for 

 that day, and in the afternoon, after a heavy shower, took my rifles and 

 went in search of game. There were marks of bison (Gavccus gaurus) and 

 sanibur, but I was unfortunate enough to see nothing larger than jungle-fowl 

 and monkeys, until coming home we heard a single elephant feeding in 

 thick cover. However, we could not get a sight of him. On ascending a 

 piece of rising ground, from which we could see over .a portion of the forest, 

 and whence we expected to be able to make out the direction of the camp, 

 we found ourselves altogether at a loss. There was no prominent landmark 

 — notliino- but level forest. The sun had been heavily obscured the whole 

 day. I had no compass with me, and my three gun-bearers held diametri- 

 cally opposed opinions as to the direction of the cardinal points. Here was 

 a pretty fix. The gloomy and dripping forest was fast becoming dark ; 

 there were no paths ; wild elephants were numerous ; and we could not 

 even agree upon the direction we ought to take ! 



I remembered at this time a piece of advice Sir Samuel Baker gives in 

 his Rifle and Hound in Ceylon — namely, to make one's self as comfortable as 

 possible when thus lost, and to wait till some one comes in search, instead of 

 straying further and increasing the difficulties ; so we set to work to make 

 a fire. But this was not an easy matter. Everything was dripping wet, 

 except a letter I had in my pocket — a letter from a lady, which was only 



