BACK IN THE JUNGLES AGAIN 183 



of the latter after its long cleansing by the monsoon rains, 

 the giant, sticky, gossamer-like webs of the big forest 

 spiders stretched across between the tree-trunks and 

 glittering with sparkling drops of water from the past night 

 mists, and the slanting beams of the sun throwing into fierce 

 relief bright patches of tangled growth, tree-trunks and 

 shining foliage. 



Out from the shadows of the forest we came into the full 

 blinding glare of the open and moved slowly through a wide 

 grass savannah. A swarm of green parrots fly screeching by 

 us as we enter the grass and a pea-fowl, an old cock bird who 

 was finishing his morning meal, gets up at the feet of the 

 elephant with an indignant squawk, a tremendous flurry of 

 wings, and wheels back into the forest. 



As the elephant slowly forges through the grass the 

 drops of water fall in miniature sprays, like handfuls of 

 shining jewels, from the grass-heads and the filmy mist winds 

 itself up into the fleeciest of shawls which vanish under the 

 sun's rays even as one watches them. There is a sudden 

 rush and three dark backs go by and disappear at once, 

 sambhar by their height, but it is impossible to say for 

 certain. A partridge goes whirring by to the left and a 

 jungle cock on the right. They go free. We are looking for 

 bigger game than this and our fingers are closed round a 

 rifle, not a gun. 



Further on we come to a small opening covered with a short 

 tussocky grass and half-way across this a hogdeer jumps up 

 and dashes for cover. I did not fire, I only had the briefest 

 glimpse of him ; but in any event the horns were still in 

 velvet. The rush of the hogdeer disturbed two doe sambhar 

 which were wading belly-deep in the rank vegetation, their 

 rough coats plastered high up the sides with thick mud. They 

 got out of the marshy ground and into the high grass with 

 wonderful celerity considering their heavy build. On re- 

 entering the grass the elephant showed signs of uneasiness. 

 Is it a tiger afoot ? The thought flashes through the brain 

 and high hopes rise only to be almost immediately dispelled. 

 A series of short rushes in the jungle ahead and a babel of 

 grunts and squeaks proclaims a sounder of pig. The 

 elephant went distinctly short in his stride, giving one 

 something of the feeling produced by a horse who has no 

 stomach for the jump in front of him and who is making up 

 his mind to refuse. The stilted stride of the elephant is most 



