An Exciting Day s Sport. 397 



at their own pace nearly as fast as an ordinary horse 

 can go his fastest.) It did not take me more than a 

 couple of seconds to turn round over the back of the 

 howdah ; with the barrel almost touching the tiger's 

 cranium, I fired, and he fell off all in a heap. 



I was rid of the enemy it is true, but my steed was 

 uncontrollable, and continued his mad career through 

 jungle, bush, and long grass towards a quarter which 

 I knew from previous experience to be a mass of 

 nasty, narrow, deep ravines, masked by long grass 

 which effectually concealed all signs of them ; and 

 once there, good-bye to one's belongings in this world, 

 for nothing could save us from a broken neck. The 

 mahout did his best ; he drew back his ancus with all 

 his might, the point penetrated almost to the bone, 

 but it had not the least effect the poor frightened 

 beast was beyond being restrained even by the acute 

 pain. As a last resort he hung the driving hook on 

 to one of the rings through which the ropes pass 

 which keep the howdah in its place, and putting his 

 two hands over the elephant's eyes blindfolded him ! 

 Just then there was a fearful stumble ; I thought our 

 end had come, that we were falling either into a 

 nullah or over a prostrate giant forest tree, but the 

 most unearthly cries convinced me that we had 

 toppled over a rhinoceros, and were in the midst of a 

 lot more. The cowardly steed was transformed in a 

 moment ; he did not know which way to run, and 

 pulled up and enabled me to empty my battery of 

 four heavy rifles into as many surrounding rhino- 

 ceros, all inclined to resent our intrusion. Two I 

 dropped dead, and the others went away the worse 

 for their visitations. In fact, this immense tusker was 



