CH. x] -THE EAKTH-SHAKIXG HEAST" 258 



tree, indicated by signs tliat the elephant were not far 

 ofl'; and his companions wished to lead us round to 

 where the cover was a little lower and thinner. Hut to 

 do so would have given them our wind, and Cuning- 

 hame refused, taking into liis own hands the manage- 

 ment of the stalk. I kept my heavy rifle at the ready, 

 and on we went, in watchful silence, prepared at any 

 moment for a charge. We could not tell at what 

 second we might catch our first glimpse at very close 

 quarters of " the beast that hath between his eyes the 

 serpent for a hand," and when thus surprised the temper 

 of " the huge earth-shaking beast " is sometimes of the 

 shortest. 



Ciminghame and Tarlton stopped for a moment to 

 consult ; Cuningliame stooped, and Tarlton mounted his 

 shoulders and stood upright, steadying himself by my 

 hand. Down he came and told us that he had seen a 

 small tree shake seventy yards distant ; although upright 

 on Cuninghame's shoulders, he could not see the 

 elephant itself. Forward we stole for a few yards, and 

 then a piece of good luck befell us, for we came on the 

 trunk of a great fallen tree, and, scrambling up, we 

 found ourselves perched in a row six feet above the 

 ground. The highest part of the trunk was near the 

 root, farthest from where the elephants were ; and, 

 though it offered precarious footing, it also offered the 

 best lookout. There 1 balanced, and, looking over the 

 heads of my companions, I at once made out the 

 elephant. At first I could see nothing but the shaking 

 branches, and one huge ear occasionally flapping. Then 

 I made out the ear of another beast, and then the trunk 

 of a third was luicurled, lifted, and curled again ; it 

 showered its back with earth. The watcher we had left 

 behind in the tree-top coughed ; the elephants stood 



