THE "rogue" in view. 33 



two Mulchers. Their coss proved a very long two 

 miles, for I found myself close to the foot of the 

 hills before they pointed me out a fresh spoor, 

 evidently that of a solitary elephant of no great 

 dimensions. After tracking it up for a short dis- 

 tance, I came to a jheel, or marsh full of high reeds 

 and stunted bush, and there, in the centre of a 

 shallow pool, I saw the object of my search, evi- 

 dently enjoying the luxury of a bath. At first 

 sight I thought it was a large female, as no tusks 

 were perceivable, but on a closer inspection with 

 my field glass I found it to be a bull, although of 

 that caste called by the natives " hyjera,'' or "barren 

 males." The Mulchers told me that he was a 

 very vicious brute, as not only had he repeatedly 

 charged them without provocation, but when he 

 found they had eluded his pursuit by climbing up 

 a large tree and hiding themselves amongst the 

 foliage, he wreaked his fury on a bamboo which he 

 plucked up and trampled to pieces under his feet, 

 screaming with rage the whole time. Such being 

 the case, I did not care to have more people about 

 me than was absolutely necessary, so giving the 



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