AN EXPLOEATION IN THE FAK EAST. 421 



of some African travellers of elephants employing large trees 

 as projectiles (one declares he saw two trees of eighteen inches 

 diameter torn up and hurled ten or twelve yards) must be 

 utter myths. A broad track through the jungle, like a high 

 road, led off in the direction taken by the herd ; and, where 

 they had crossed the dry sandy bed of the Mdtin river, their 

 tracks of every size, ranging from that of the tusker of a foot 

 and a half diameter to the youngster's the size of a teacup, 

 showed that the herd must have numbered some fifty or sixty 

 individuals. I was of course quite unable to follow them in 

 my present condition. 



In the afternoon, when I was asleep, some of the Bhumids 

 came in with news of the solitary tusker being within half a 

 mile of the camp. Ill as I was I could not stand this, so 

 getting on my pony, in sleeping drawers and slippers just as I 

 was, I went out at least to see him. He was standing in the 

 sandy bed of the Mdtin river, where he had dug out a great 

 hole down to the moisture below the surface, and plastered 

 himself all over with the wet sand to keep off the flies. He 

 was a very large tusker, resembling the Nepal breed in shape. 

 The only striking difference I noticed between him and 

 domesticated elephants was the much greater fleshiness of his 

 neck and fore-quarters, a circumstance also to be remarked in 

 the wild buffalo bull, as compared with the tame species. He 

 stood leaning on his tusks against the bank, gently swaying 

 his tail about, and seemingly half asleep. There was no way 

 of getting nearer him than about a hundred and fifty yards 

 much too far to shoot at an elephant ; and I sat long watch- 

 ing him in the hope that he would move, but he didn't. Then 

 I went and found the road he had taken down the steep bank 

 of the river, and posted myself behind it, sending a Bhumid, 

 round a long way to give him his wind. It was interesting 



