NOT KILLED YET 333 



So, aiming for the shoulder, I fired. The elephant stood stock- 

 still as if carved out of stone. I fired the second barrel, on 

 which he turned round and made off at a great pace towards 

 the stream (the Ondan or Kin river). We caught him up as 

 he was crossing, pulling one huge leg after the other over the 

 large boulders which lay in his path in mid-stream, the 

 water, some three or four feet deep, seething and boiling all 

 around him. 



I did not care much about attempting to ford the stream 

 carrying my heavy rifle, as the water rushed like a mill-stream, 

 but managed eventually to scramble across by jumping from 

 rock to rock. The elephant had now got a start of quite half- 

 a-mile, but we caught it up again. We rushed along rather 

 recklessly at times, I am afraid, being guided not by the foot- 

 prints but by splashes of blood, and risked running into the 

 wounded animal at any moment. As it happened, we did 

 nearly come to grief, as the elephant had, after crossing the 

 stream and holding on for some distance along the bank, 

 turned off and doubled back upon its own tracks for some 

 twenty or thirty paces, and stood amongst the jungle close to 

 the path we were following. Fortunately he betrayed his 

 presence by flapping his ears, and we >were warned in time, 

 but only just, for hearing our approach he charged out of 

 cover straight at us. We were about ten or twelve paces off 

 at the time, and it was a very close thing. I had no idea the 

 brute had so much life left in him, for he charged at a terrific 

 pace. I had barely time to jump to one side and take up my 

 stand behind a tree, Moung Yauk doing likewise, when the 

 elephant rushed past us, over-shooting us a few yards from 

 the momentum of his charge, then swinging round with 

 curled-up trunk and a shriek of rage he again made for us. 

 All this was the work of a few seconds, and Moung Yauk 

 being unarmed had made himself scarce. It was only natural; 

 and as I had everything with me, including spare cartridges, 

 I did not mind. The elephant, on reaching the tree behind 

 which I had taken up my stand, began uprooting the small 

 trees and bushes in its vicinity, and hammered the ground at 

 intervals with its trunk, trumpeting shrilly with rage. Stones 

 and clods of earth were kicked in all directions, and my 



