422 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTEAL INDIA. 



to see the elephant when he caught the first whiff of the 

 savage. He still stood leaning on his tusks, but his tail 

 ceased to sway, and the point of his trunk was curled round 

 below his ear in the direction of the scent, while his ears stood 

 cocked to catch the faintest sound. Long he stood thus, per- 

 fectly motionless. The Bhumia" soon got more directly to 

 windward, though still unseen by the elephant, and got up a 

 tree. Those wild creatures had a wholesome dread of this 

 jungle deity of theirs it seemed. Then the elephant gently 

 walked out of his hole, and never a look did he take towards 

 the foe ; slowly and heavily making for another pass up the 

 bank a couple of hundred yards from where I was. I stole 

 along through the grass as near this point as I could without 

 coming into his view, and again sat down by an elephant path 

 up which I hoped he would come. And I was not mistaken, 

 for after a breathless pause of a minute or so, his great solemn 

 forehead and gleaming tusks . appeared, waving to and fro 

 as he moved, and within eighty or ninety paces of my post. 

 I felt sure of him with my big rifle if he came along the path, 

 and determined not to fire till he was quite close. About 

 forty yards only now intervened between us, and I was lifting 

 the rifle to my eye, when a short cough behind caused me to 

 look round, and there, oh horror ! was a tall figure, clad in a 

 yellow coat and bright red turban, standing on an ant-hill 

 and striving to get up a tree ! Instantly I turned again to the 

 elephant ; but all I saw was his vast round stern in full retreat 

 through the trees. It was a little provoking, and I did not 

 bless very much the owner of that yellow garment as I sped 

 along frantically after the vanishing tusker. I remember no 

 more than this, till I found myself being supported on my 

 pony back to camp. They said I had fallen senseless in the 

 grass after running about a hundred yards. The culprit was 



