ELEPHANTS 67 



stampede, and, when we threw ourselves down to 

 snatch a few hours' sleep, we were convinced that 

 the drive would proceed without trouble. The scouts 

 reported that the herd was slightly depleted, but, 

 even so, it was the largest herd that any of us 

 had ever seen, much less driven. 



At nightfall, each day, the men were again in 

 position, waiting for my signal; and, three nights 

 later, we approached the stockade. The men went 

 wild with delight. And above the uproar, I could 

 hear the calls of the guides in the trees, telling us 

 our distance from the trap. 



The big beasts jammed in the runway between 

 the wings, heaving and struggling, and forcing 

 those ahead of them into the trap. The walls of the 

 wings groaned as they threw their bodies against 

 the posts. The elephants bellowed, and the natives 

 kept up a continual pandemonium. I mounted the 

 platform and looked down ; I could see nothing but 

 a tossing flood of black that poured slowly from 

 the runway into the trap. 



When the last elephant was inside, the ropes that 

 held the gate were cut. The gate crashed down; 

 bars were run through the sockets; the elephants 

 were trapped. 



On my platform I shouted as loudly as any of the 

 Malays. Torches were lighted and the men began 

 dancing. I slipped to the ground and warned them 

 against climbing up on the walls of the stockade, 

 for I was fearful that the sight of men might en- 



