310 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



horse. I once more ascended the hillock to feast my eyes upon 

 the enchanting sight before me, and, drawing out my spy-glass, 

 narrowly watched the motions of the elephants. The herd con 

 sisted entirely of fern lies, several of which were followed by small 

 calves. 



Presently, on reconnoitering the surrounding country, I dis- 

 covered a second herd, consisting of five bull elephants, which 

 were quietly feeding about a mile to the, northward. The cows 

 were feeding toward a rocky ridge that stretched away from the 

 base of the hillock on which I stood. Burning with impatience 

 to commence the attack, I resolved to try the stalking system with 

 these, and to hunt the troop of bulls with dogs and horses. Hav- 

 ing thus decided, 1 directed the guides to watch the elephants 

 from the summit of the hillock, and with a beating heart 1 ap- 

 proached them. The ground and wind favoring me, I soon gained 

 the rocky ridge toward which they were feeding. They uere 

 now within one hundred yards, and I resolved to enjoy the plea- 

 sure of watching their movements for a little before I fired. They 

 continued to feed slowly toward me, breaking the branches from 

 the trees with their trunks, and eating the leaves and tender 

 shoots. I soon selected the finest in the herd, and kept my eye 

 on her in particular. At length two of the troop had walked 

 slowly past at about sixty yards, and the one which I had selected 

 was feeding with two others, on a thorny tree before me. 



My hand was now as steady as the rock on which it rested ; 

 so, taking a deliberate aim, I let fly at her head a little behind the 

 eye. She got it hard and sharp, just where I aimed, but it did 

 not seem to affect her much. Uttering a loud cry, she wheeled 

 about, when I gave her the second ball close behind the shoulder 

 All the elephants uttered a strange rumbling noise, and made off 

 in a line to the northward at a brsk ambling pace, their huge, 

 fan-like ears flapping in the ratio of their speed. I did not wait 

 to load, but ran back to the hillock to obtain a view. On gaining 

 its summit, the guides pointed out the elephants : they were stand- 

 ing in a grove of shady trees, but the wounded one was some dis- 

 tance behind with another elephant, doubtless its particular friend, 



