An Elephant Stampede 



determined to have a try, for the one alone was a 

 prize not to be scoffed at. 



I noticed then that numerous young elephants 

 were running about hither and thither among the 

 bushes, and a couple of them were comparatively 

 close. I tapped my orderly to put me down, as I 

 dared not even whisper. In doing so he was 

 clumsy, and dropping me hurriedly, created a slight 

 noise. Upon this the two baby elephants ran to 

 their mother and scared the herd, who began to 

 suspect there was something in the wind. Up went 

 all their trunks, sniffing the air for information. 

 For a brief moment I held my breath. Then came 

 the stampede, and, thank goodness, not in our 

 direction. Down went grass, bushes, and even 

 small-sized trees. Yet the comparative silence was 

 wonderful, considering there were probably no less 

 than five hundred elephants tearing through the 

 bush at a speed of twelve miles an hour. 



They left a smooth track behind them as flat as 

 Piccadilly. With them went all my hopes, and left 

 me with a long, weary march back to my camp. 

 But however disappointing the day's result, I had 

 caught a brief glimpse of the famed elephant of the 

 one tusk. 



An illustration of a baby elephant caught by 

 the natives, having probably lost its mother by 

 disease or violence, shows him looking out of his 

 small eyes quite lost in astonishment at the barking 

 doe. 



109 



