96 THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. v. 



wounded elephant crushing through the jungle, and 

 they had given him a volley just as he was crossing 

 the river over which the herd had escaped in the 

 morning. They described the elephant as perfectly 

 helpless from his wound, and they imagined that he 

 had fallen in the thick bushes on the opposite bank of 

 the river. As I before mentioned, we could not cross 

 the river on account of the torrent, but in a few days 

 it subsided, and the elephant was found lying dead in 

 the spot where they supposed he had fallen. 



Thus happily ended the destruction of this notable 

 pair ; they had proved themselves all that we had heard 

 of them, and by their cunning dodge of hiding in the 

 thick jungle they had nearly made sure of us. We 

 had killed three rogues that morning, and we returned 

 to our quarters well satisfied. 



Since that period I have somewhat thinned the 

 number of rogues in this neighbourhood. I had a 

 careful and almost certain plan of shooting them. 

 Quite alone, with the exception of two faithful gun- 

 bearers, I used to wait at the edge of the jungle at 

 their feeding time, and watch their exit from the 

 forest. The most cautious stalking then generally 

 enabled me to get a fatal shot before my presence was 

 discovered. This is the proper way to succeed with 

 rogue elephants, although of course it is attended with 

 considerable danger. I was once very nearly caught 

 near this spot, where the elephants are always particu- 



