ELEPHANTS 65 



on, guided only by the calls of the men in the trees. 

 Insects swarmed about us, biting until we were 

 frantic. Sometimes the noise on either the left or 

 the right suddenly increased, and we knew that the 

 herd had veered in that direction and that the men 

 were frightening them off. 



Dawn came, and we found that we had driven 

 them a mile and a half. It had been exhausting 

 work. I posted guards to watch the herd, and we 

 slept until late in the afternoon. Our bodies were 

 covered with welts from insect bites and the sting 

 of nettles and were torn and scratched by the sharp 

 vines; and I was throbbing with the fever. When 

 darkness came again, it seemed to me that the enter- 

 prise was all a wild nightmare. 



Early the next day the stampede hit us without 

 warning. A small elephant, straying from the herd, 

 saw some of the men on the right; he ran back, 

 trumpeting the danger. Then the bellowing herd 

 came down upon us. 



AH shoved my rifle into my hands and I jumped 

 behind a tree. The Siamese priest stumbled and fell. 

 Before I could shoot, a big bull elephant stepped 

 on him and tore him in two, throwing the upper 

 portion of his body over my head. I was spattered 

 with blood. Elephants, bellowing furiously, rushed 

 past us ; men screamed and scrambled for places of 

 safety. The immense animals loomed up in the 

 darkness for a second and then disappeared. In 

 their excitement some collided with trees. 



