Early Experiences 31 



against the sky, and the tender green of the 



young shoots sheltered in the protection of 



the juicy stems. Rice 



and plantains were well 



worth the risk 



of a midnight 



foray in the 



hopes that the 



owners would 



not wake 



durino- the 



spoliation and inter 



fere to protect their 



property with torches, 



guns and drums, all 



more disagreeable than terrible to the robbers. 



In their own domain in the primeval forest, the 



elephants took litde notice of human beings ; 



certainly some morose tusker, or mother with 



calf at foot, might resent too near an approach, 



or, if stumbled upon inadvertently, would 



brush the intruder away with a brusqueness 



that meant death ; otherwise, in the forest, man 



was not a force to be seriously reckoned with ; 



