200 IN MALAY FORESTS. 



it standing under the great dead tree, from under- 

 neath which I had fired both shots. I picked myself 

 up and, not daring to wait to get my rifle which had 

 been thrown into a thicket by my fall, raced down the 

 path again and hid behind the first convenient tree. 

 From this point of comparative safety I saw the 

 elephant still standing under the dead tree. It was 

 fumbling dizzily with its trunk in the heavy smoke 

 of the black powder fumbling to find me. The 

 blood was pouring from the wound in its chest in 

 great throbbing jets, and the bright green under- 

 growth was drenched with heavy red. 



After a few seconds the great brute began to 

 scream with rage and pain. How it screamed ! As 

 the numbness caused by the shock of the first bullet 

 wore off, the pain of the wound and of the second 

 bullet in its chest drove it to frenzied madness. It 

 trampled over the ground which was already be- 

 smeared with its blood, and, with trunk outstretched 

 and ears thrust forward, turned in every direction to 

 seek its assailant. My empty rifle lay between us, 

 and I could not think of attempting to move towards 

 it. Neither dared I move farther away, for any 

 motion on my part might attract its attention. 

 Ahman and Sleman were both unarmed, for in those 

 days I did not own a second rifle, and we all cowered 

 behind our respective trees. Any one of us, of course, 

 could have killed it had he been armed. And each 

 one of us knew that at any minute he might be 

 detected, and then inevitably be killed. 



After a time, it may have been only a few minutes, 

 but it seemed like hours, weakened by the loss of 



