74 The Wild Elephant. 



The following also relates to the same locality. It was 

 narrated to me by an old Moorman of Barberyn, who, during 

 his earlier years, led the life of a pedlar. 



2. " I and another," said he, " were on our way to Badulla, 

 one day some twenty-five or thirty years ago. We were 

 quietly moxing along a path which wound round a hill, when 

 all of a sudden, and without the slightest previous intimation 

 either by the rustling of leaves or by any other sign, a huge 

 elephant \\ith short tusks rushed to the path. Where he had 

 been before I can't say ; I believe he must have been lying in 

 wait for travellers. In a moment he rushed forward to the 

 road, trumpeting dreadfully, and seized my companion. I, 

 who happened to be in the rear, took to flight, pursued by 

 the elephant, which had already killed my companion by 

 striking him against the ground. I had not moved more 

 than seven or eight fathoms, when the elephant seized me, 

 and threw me up with such force, that I was carried high 

 into the air towards a CaliaUi tree, whose branches caught 

 me and prevented my falling to the ground. By this I 

 received no other injury than the dislocation of one of my 

 wrists. I do not know whether the elephant saw me after 

 he had hurled me away through the air ; but certainly he 

 did not come to the tree to which I was then clinging : even 

 if he had come, he couldn't have done me any more harm, 

 as the branch on which I was was far beyond the reach of 

 his trunk, and the tree itself too large for him to pull down. 

 The next thing I saw was the elephant returning to the 

 corpse of my companion, which he again threw on the 

 ground, and placing one of his fore-feet on it, he tore it with 

 his trunk limb after limb ; and dabbled in the blood that 

 flowed from the shapeless mass of flesh which he was still 

 holding under his foot." 



3. "In 1847 or '46," said another informant, " I was a 



