A Furious Charge. 203 



came up ; and he being loaded, I told him to keep a 

 look out for the mother's return, while I secured my 

 captive, by seizing" him by the trunk with one hand 

 and by the tail with the other ; in this manner I could 

 just master him by throwing my whole weight down 

 the hill ; and he began to roar like a full-grown ele- 

 phant. The mother was for a wonder faithless to her 

 charge, and did not return to the little one's assistance. 

 While I was engaged in securing him, the gun-bearers 

 came up, and at this moment I observed, at the foot of 

 the hill, another elephant not quite full grown, who 

 was retreating through the high grass toward the jun- 

 gle. There were no guns charged except one of my 

 No. 10 rifles, which some one had reloaded ; taking 

 this, I left the little " Poonchy" with V. and the gun- 

 bearers, and running down the side of the hill, I came 

 up with the elephant just as he was entering the jun- 

 gle, and getting the ear-shot I killed him. 



We had now bagged nine elephants, and only one 

 had escaped from the herd ; this was the female who 

 had forsaken her young one. 



Wallace now came up and cut off the tails of those 

 that I had killed. I had one barrel still loaded, and I 

 was pushing my way through the tangled grass to- 

 ward the spot where the five elephants lay together, 

 when I suddenly heard Wallace shriek out, " Look out, 

 sir ! Look out ! — an elephant's coming !" 



I turned round in a moment ; and close past Wal- 

 lace, from the very spot where the last dead elephant 

 lay, came the very essence and incarnation of a "rogue" 

 elephant in full charge. His trunk was thrown high in 

 the air, his ears were cocked, his tail stood high above 

 his back as stiff as a poker, and screaming exactly like 



