MY OLD ELEPHANT 



wonderful range of notes. Then, as darkness fell, 

 the baboons began to talk. Those who have spent 

 nights on the veldt or in the jungle will understand. 

 Everything, even the grass itself, appears to have 

 acquired the power of speech. Monkeys howl and 

 chatter; wild animals — badgers, ratels, and the like 

 — grunt and root around, quarrel amongst themselves, 

 and then, as often as not, bolt away crying with terror, 

 as they get the wind of some enemy. 



During my stay in that jungle I grew very fond 

 of my old elephant, which had been caught in the 

 presence of our present King on the occasion of his 

 first visit to India. It was a never-ending pleasure 

 to watch her at work, to note her perfect obedience 

 to her driver, her almost human understanding of 

 every order given her, the care with which she broke 

 down branches which might have swept us off her 

 back. I seldom came across another animal to which 

 I became so greatly attached. In the morning she used 

 to stroll round the camp looking for delicacies, and I 

 made a rule of always having something ready for 

 her. 



One morning we made an early start, being away 

 soon after six o'clock. We had not gone far when we 

 heard a crash in the jungle ahead. I clambered down 

 from the elephant so as to be ready, whilst one of the 

 trackers cautiously made his way ahead. In a few 

 minutes he was back with the inteUigence that a couple 



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