AN ELEPHANT 237 



proval, but I rather liked the looks of the new- 

 comer and decided to take a chance with him. So 

 leaving my party, which was to meet me at the 

 tapioca farmer's house, I shouldered my pack and 

 two guns and set out with the stranger, who carried 

 a somewhat antique muzzle loader. It was a walk 

 of a few hours before we reached a little hut on 

 stilts, where we camped for the night with what I 

 assumed to be his son and his son's wife and chil- 

 dren. My new guide, who made me know his name 

 was Jin Abu, seemed to be a good-natured old chap, 

 with a deal of pride in his gun, and a multicolored 

 turban, twisted into a horn, which set on one side 

 of his head and gave a rakish suggestion incon- 

 gruous with the remainder of his scant costume. 

 He appeared to be really concerned in my hunt- 

 ing, and we held long conversations, during which 

 neither of us understood a word the other said. But 

 I think we each got the other's spirit; it is remark- 

 able how, under conditions where primal instinct 

 rules, one senses what one can not learn through 

 speech. All the family made a great effort to ad- 

 minister to my material wants, and when I gave 

 Jin a pocket knife and the son's wife a silver tical 

 which I had used as a button on my coat, unmis- 

 takable delight reigned in that Malay household. 

 I made out during the course of the evening's 

 confab that elephants were in the vicinity, and 



