34 



The Life of an Elephant 



drenching both the elephants and their riders ; 

 or grass, whose flowering tops were weighted 



with moisture, was 

 brushed aside as 

 the party made its 

 way through the 

 dripping forest. 

 The sun was well 

 up when a halt was 

 made at the edge 

 of a forest glade, 

 and the simple 

 equipment of the 

 hunters could be 

 observed. Each 

 man carried a heavy knife whose handle pro- 

 truded from the tightly-drawn loin-cloth within 

 ready reach of his right hand. Other weapons 

 or clothing they had none, now that the cotton 

 coverlet had been thrown aside. For im- 

 plements of the chase each elephant carried a 

 stout and long rope of fibre, twisted from the 

 inner bark of trees, and with this outfit the men 

 proposed to capture some half-grown elephant 



