xi THE WHITE TRAIL in 



bear on the situation, and, recovering his senses 

 with some difficulty, he breathlessly told me what 

 had occurred. It appears that when he had flung 

 down his sack of rice, the charging elephant, 

 evidently mistaking it for a human being, had 

 immediately turned his attention to the load and 

 vented his pent up anger on the unoffending 

 object. 



I at once made Baramaesi lead me to the spot 

 where the incident had occurred, and on arrival 

 there, we discovered the grass all trampled flat 

 and rice strewn in every direction, but not a 

 vestige of a trace of the sack. It was clear that 

 when wreaking vengeance on the load, he had 

 transfixed it with one of his tusks and had dashed 

 off without being able to rid himself of the 

 incumbrance. For half a mile on his tracks, we 

 discovered a continuous white trail of rice, when 

 it abruptly ceased, and though we followed his 

 spoor for miles we never came up with him and 

 saw no further trace of the empty sack. 



Afterwards, when talking over the incidents of 

 the day, my men indulged in roars of hearty 

 laughter over the ridiculous spectacle that Baramaesi 

 had presented when leaping wild-eyed through 

 the grass, and Baramaesi had received such a 

 fright on this occasion that he never again joined 

 one of my safaris. Discussing the curious incident 



