344 THE ELEPHANT. 



best of the night's entertainment was yet to come. 



A large herd of female elephants with their 

 calves soon afterwards came on, perfectly heedless 

 of the firing that had just taken place, and with a 

 rush gained the water exactly opposite to my ant- 

 hill ; and subsequently other troops, consisting both 

 of cows and bulls, poured in from different quarters. 

 It was quite remarkable to observe how the animals 

 ranged themselves closely side by side, like a line of 

 infantry. They drew up in single file, the line 

 extending the entire width of the lake, which here 

 was about three hundred yards broad. 



The moon was then nearly at its zenith, and shed 

 a glorious and dazzling light on the huge creatures 

 below me. I felt no inclination to disturb so 

 striking and interesting a picture; indeed, even 

 had I been so disposed, it would have availed me 

 little, as the vley, in the direction occupied by the 

 elephants, was totally destitute of cover; so all I 

 could do, and did, was to look on, sigh, and 

 admire. 



When they had ceased drinking, and were about 

 moving away from the water, I hurried forward to 

 intercept their retreat, and as the very last of the 

 vast herd was about to disappear, I succeeded, with 

 some difficulty, in shouldering my rifle and firing. 

 The rush and trampling that followed the dis- 

 charge of the piece was truly most appalling ; 

 the animals actually yelled with rage. They 

 were indeed, as I shortly afterwards experienced 

 in a " stalk " after them that nearly cost me my 

 life, a most savage lot. My last shot, however, 



