COL. ANSTRUTHER THOMSON 271 



enough being bolted with on a horse with a saddle, 

 but on an elephant without a saddle it's too much. 

 The mahout nearly chopped its head off with his 

 goad thing, while several men plunged spears into 

 its trunk, while Ty and I simply clung on to its sides 

 like leeches, quaking with terror. I never shall 

 forget it. At last they got the devil of a beast to 

 stop and kneel down, when we flung ourselves to the 

 earth and said grace. They had to shackle him and 

 send him home." 



In September, 1893, Lord Roberts was staying 

 in Fife, at Raith, and the following account of his 

 visit to Charleton is from my daughter Olive's 

 journal : 



Saturday, 3Oth September. Meet at Charleton. 

 Ronald Ferguson brought Lord Roberts from Raith 

 with him, and also M. d'Estournelles de Constant 

 (French charge d'affaires] and Colonel Rowan Hamil- 

 ton. I ran with Evelyn Anstruther, but did not see 

 very much, though we were quite undefeated in the 

 gallant way we charged every obstacle and panted 

 right up to the rock on the craig. Poor Evelyn 

 stuck on the top of one extra high wall surmounted 

 with barbed wire and I had literally to lift her down 

 off it. She remarked, " Detty, dear, I do wish you 

 could remember that my legs are not as long as 

 yours ". After killing a fox at Lahill, Captain 

 Middleton took the hounds towards Gilston. Found 

 a fox in the Knock Hill, Falfield, where there was 



