328 THE ELEPHANT. 



when the rush is over, he reloads, though* without 

 dismounting, and renews the attack in like manner 

 as before. Once in a time an elephant will drop to 

 a single ball, but more generally it requires several, 

 or it may be very many, to lay him low. We read, 

 indeed, of fifty, or even one hundred balls, being 

 lodged in his body before that object has been 

 accomplished. 



The following account of a very successful hunt 

 on horseback, by Captain Harris, will, however, 

 give the reader a far better idea of the manner 

 in which matters are conducted than any descrip- 

 tion of mine. 



After telling us that on the day preceding his 

 party had, " from a commanding eminence, seen the 

 face of the highly picturesque landscape covered 

 with these stately beasts browsing in indolent 

 security, and bathing in the pillowed stream," he 

 goes on to say : " The elephants, nearly all females, 

 were at least one hundred in number, and on being 

 attacked they 



" Trampling their path through wood and brake, 

 And canes, which crackling fell before their way," 



rushed frantically down a ravine with upraised ears 

 and tossing trunks, screaming wildly, and levelling 

 everything before them. A shot fired from the 

 bank, while it sealed the fate of the leader, turned 

 the rest back ; and this persecution was re- 

 peated until they became fairly stupefied. On one 

 occasion they attempted to retrieve the day by a 



