AN ELEPHANT 225 



grew thinner until they finally disappeared, and 

 the banks, now more or less defined, and heavily 

 laden with undergrowth, drew nearer us. Even- 

 tually there seemed to be little or no current as 

 we made our way silently, and swiftly now, through 

 a dense, narrow lane, stretching crooked and dark 

 before us, with arching jungle overhead. Where 

 the lane opened out a bit and the stream's banks 

 grew higher, we came finally to its source ; and here 

 we cached the dug-out and distributed its contents 

 among us; for from now we were to be our own 

 pack animals, none but two-legged ones being 

 known to this section. 



We had understood from the people at the mouth 

 of this little river that a day's travel from its head 

 waters would bring us to the house of a Malay who 

 was quite a tapioca farmer and to whom, in pass- 

 ing, came frequently other natives from the moun- 

 tain side of Sumatra. It really proved to be a 

 two and a half days' tramp, but the tiller of the 

 soil was so much more good-natured than those 

 we had been meeting, and gave me such an idea 

 of elephants galore, that it seemed like " getting 

 money from home." While we camped on his 

 place for a half day, journeying natives also told 

 of elephants towards the mountains. So I grew 

 to feel that elephants were to be had for the mere 

 going after them at any hour of the day, and found 



15 



