AN ELEPHANT HUNT IN CEYLON 9 



I was in despair. We had had all the 

 trouble, excitement and danger for nothing. 



Once more we started in pmsuit, and for 

 another two hours fought our way, ever more 

 painfully, through thicket and marsh, until 

 finally our strength gave out. Utterly out of 

 breath, we all sat down where we stood — that 

 is to say, in the water. We were simply 

 unable to move another step. 



So ended this strange hunt. The elephant 

 had received more than a dozen bullets — 

 but we never saw him again. 



On another day I shot a slightly smaller 

 elephant, but in circumstances which were 

 nothing like so exciting as those of the hunt 

 I have just described. 



If you have ever been in India, and have 

 seen the clever, trained elephants, it would 

 appear almost a crime to shoot such a splendid 

 beast, which does so much honest and useful 

 work. It is true that the old gentleman of 

 whom I have been writing would never have 

 done any good work, for a "rogue" elephant 

 can never be caught and tamed. As long as 



