Stories by Natives. 75 



superintendent of a coco-nut estate belonging to Mr. 

 Armitage, situated about twelve miles from Negombo. A 

 rogue elephant did considerable injury to the estate at that 

 time ; and one day, hearingthat it was then on the plantation, 

 a Mr. Lindsay, an Englishman, who was proprietor of the 

 adjoining property, and myself, accompanied by some seven 

 or eight people of the neighbouring village, went out, carry- 

 ing with us six rifles loaded and primed. We continued to 

 walk along a path which, near one of its turns, had some 

 bushes on one side. We had calculated to come up with the 

 brute where it had been seen half an hour before ; but no 

 sooner had one of our men, who was walking foremost, seen 

 the animal at the distance of some fifteen or twenty fathoms, 

 than he exclaimed, ' There ! there ! ' and immediately took to 

 his heels, and we all followed his example. The elephant 

 did not see us until we had run some fifteen or twenty paces 

 from the spot where we turned, when he gave us chase, 

 screaming frightfully as he came on. The Englishman 

 managed to climb a tree, and the rest of my companions did 

 the same ; as for myself I could not, although I made one or 

 two superhuman efforts. But there was no time to be lost. 

 The elephant was running at me with his trunk bent down 

 in a curve towards the ground. At this critical moment Mr. 

 Lindsay held out his foot to me, with the help of which and 

 then of the branches of the tree, which were three or four 

 feet above my head, I managed to scramble up to a branch. 

 The elephant came directly to the tree and attempted to 

 force it down, which he could not. He first coiled his trunk 

 round the stem, and pulled it with all his might, but with 

 no effect. He then apphed his head to the tree, and pushed 

 for several minutes, but with no better success. He then 

 trampled with his feet all the projecting roots, moving, as he 

 did so, several times round and round the tree. Lastly, 



