TOE EESCUE OF COMRADES. 207 



Mr. Moodie's testimony as to the elephant's ex- 

 tracting its comrade from the toils, is to tho like 

 effect as Mr. Green's. He says : 



" A few clays before my arrival at Enon (a 

 missionary station) a troop of elephants came down, 

 one dark and rainy night, close to the outskirts of 

 the village. The Missionaries heard them bellow- 

 ing, and making an extraordinary noise for a long 

 time, at the upper end of their orchard ; but know- 

 ing well how dangerous it is to encounter these 

 powerful animals in the night, they kept close 

 within their houses till daylight. Next morning, 

 on examining the spot where they had heard the 

 elephants, they discovered the cause of all this 

 nocturnal uproar. There was at this spot a ditch, 

 or trench, about four or five feet in width, and 

 nearly fourteen in depth, which the industrious 

 Missionaries had recently cut through the bank of 



V 



the river, to lead out the water for the purpose of 

 irrigating some portion of their garden-ground, 

 and driving a corn-mill. Into this trench, which 

 was still unfinished, and without water, one of the 

 elephants had evidently fallen, for the marks of 

 his feet were distinctly visible at the bottom, as 

 well as tho imprint of his huge body in its sides. 

 How he had got into it was easy to conjecture; but 

 by what means, being once in, he had contrived to 

 get out again, was the marvel. By his own un- 

 aided efforts it was obviously impossible for such 

 an animal to have extricated himself. Could his 

 companions have assisted him ? There can be no 

 question that they had, though in what manner, 



