Catching an Elephant. 185 



and back toward the guns. The rogue overshot me. I 

 met my brother close to his tail, which position he had 

 with difficulty maintained ; but he could not get a shot, 

 and the elephant turned into the jungle and disappeared 

 just as I escaped him by a sharp turn. This was a close 

 shave ; had not the ground been perfectly level, I must 

 have been caught to a certainty, and even as it was he 

 would have had me in another stride had I not turned 

 from my straight course. It was nearly dark, and we 

 returned to the tent, killing several peacocks and ducks 

 on our way, with which the country swarmed. 



We passed a miserable night, not being able to sleep 

 on account of the mosquitoes, which were in swarms. 

 I was delighted to see the first beam of morning, when 

 our little winged enemies left us, and a "chatty bath" 

 was most enjoyable after the restless tossings of a sleep- 

 less night. The Moormen were out at dawn to look 

 for elephants, the guns were cleaned, and I looked for- 

 ward to the return of the trackers with peculiar interest, 

 as we had determined to " catch an elephant." The 

 Moormen were full of excitement and preparation. 

 These men were well practiced in this sport, and they 

 were soon busied in examining and coiling their hide 

 ropes for the purpose. 



At about mid-day the trackers returned, having found 

 a herd about five miles from the village. We were all 

 ready, and we set off without a moment's delay, our 

 party consisting of my brother, myself, four gun-bearers, 

 and about thirty Moormen, each of whom carried a coil 

 of finely-twisted rope made of thongs of raw deer's hide : 

 these ropes were each twenty yards in length and about 

 an inch in diameter. 



Having skirted the borders of the tank for about three 

 16* 



