I IO Wild Beasts 



charged both barrels of his double gun, and broke one of 

 the hind legs of the beast. 



" Upon receiving this wound the lion at once turned, 

 and rushing at the elephant, sprang up on his hind 

 quarters and fixed his fangs in the thick part of the 

 tail. The poor animal perfectly screamed from the 

 extreme torture, which was little to be wondered at, as 

 this unfortunate appendage had only a week previously 

 been severely lacerated by a huge tiger. The elephant 

 now swayed to and fro to such a degree that his rider 

 had some difficulty in retaining his seat in the howdah, 

 and was much less able to take an accurate aim at the 

 lion, which, screened as it was by the protruding rump of 

 the elephant, would have been scarcely practicable. The 

 Captain, besides, had only one barrel remaining, and it 

 therefore behooved him to be most cautious that his last 

 charge was not ineffectually expended. 



" This trying scene continued for two or three minutes, 

 during which Delamaine anxiously looked out for Captain 

 Harris. But unluckily his elephant had been rendered 

 unmanageable by the maltreatment it had itself received 

 from the lion, and it was not, therefore, in his power to 

 render aid to his friend." 



The appearance of the lion at this time, maddened as 

 he was with pain and rage, is described as most awful. 



" At length the beast's long-continued attack on the 

 elephant caused the poor animal evidently to give way 

 and to sink behind, and had the affair continued a short 

 time longer, there is no doubt it would have been on its 

 haunches, and the rider at the mercy of the fierce assailant. 



