ON A BOLTING ELEPHANT 



next moment tumbling backwards into the howdah, as the 

 elephant, turning sharp round, made off for all he was 

 worth in the direction from which we had come. 



Now came the most unpleasant half-hour I have ever 

 gone through. The jungle, as already stated, was what is 

 known as tree jungle, and therefore one to be traversed 

 with extreme care and caution, and of necessity very 

 lowly, when in a howdah. The reader may, therefore, 

 imagine my feelings when, on recrossing the small clear- 

 ing, we dashed into the cover at railway speed, regardless 

 alike of branches, thorns, and creepers, and tore through 

 them at a rate which, though necessarily reduced, was yet 

 sufficient to sweep off howdah, guns and riders, landing 

 the latter, perhaps, into the very mouth of the tiger, who, 

 for all we knew, might be pursuing us ! 



How we escaped being brained, or at least swept off, I 

 have no conception, for, as in most situations of the kind, 

 it all seemed to happen so quickly that we never quite 

 knew what actually did happen. One very vivid recollec- 

 tion, however which a bump the size of an egg on my 

 forehead helped me to recall for some days after was a 

 violent collision with a large branch. The bump afore- 

 said was not the only evidence of this rencontre, for on 

 looking for my pith hat afterwards, all I could find of it 

 was the rim, the crown being found later in the branches 

 of a tree ! We had also apparently collided with one or 

 two other hard substances, for my coat was badly torn 

 about the shoulders, both of which felt extremely sore. 

 The mahout, being seated much lower, had come off 

 comparatively scatheless, except for some scratches on the 

 face and hands, and a deep one on the side of the foot, 

 evidently, as he said, from the tiger's claw. 



Our elephant, even after reaching the open, had con- 

 tinued its headlong flight ; in fact, he did not pull up till 

 he met the others, now returning from their little excursion 

 to the village. Giving the elephants, including my own, 

 time to recover from the fright and to pull themselves 

 together, I returned with them to the scene of my late 

 encounter with a view to renewing hostilities. 



Reaching the place, the first object that met our gaze 

 was the tiger, or, rather, tigress (for so she proved to be), 



D 33 



