chap. X. A FURIOUS CHARGE. 231 



down the side of the hill, I came up with the elephant 

 just as he was entering the jungle, and getting the ear- 

 shot, I killed him. 



We had bagged nine elephants, and only one had 

 escaped from the herd ; this was the female who had 

 forsaken her young one. 



Wallace now came up and cut off the tails of those 

 that I had killed. I had one barrel still loaded, and I 

 was pushing my way through the tangled grass to- 

 wards the spot where the five elephants lay together, 

 when I suddenly heard Wallace shriek out, ' Look out, 

 sir ! Look out ! — an elephant's coming ! ' 



I turned round in a moment ; and close past 

 Wallace, from the very spot where the last dead ele- 

 phant lay, came the very essence and incarnation of a 

 ' rogue ' elephant in full charge His trunk was thrown 

 high in the air, his ears were cocked, his tail stood erect 

 above his back as stiff as a poker, and screaming ex- 

 actly like the whistle of a railway engine, he rushed 

 upon me through the high grass with a velocity that 

 was perfectly wonderful. His eyes flashed as he came 

 on, and he had singled me out as his victim. 



I have often been in dangerous positions, but I 

 never felt so totally devoid of hope as I did in this 

 instance. The tangled grass rendered retreat impos- 

 sible. I had only one barrel loaded, and that was 

 useless, as the upraised trunk protected his forehead. 

 I felt myself doomed ; the few thoughts that rush 



