ELEPHANTS 283 



the result might be unpleasant. It was a satisfaction 

 when the herd turned up another gorge and passed 

 out of sight. 



It is not very safe to meet a herd of elephants, but it 

 is still more dangerous to meet the elephants that 

 wander alone or even in pairs. On one occasion I had 

 this last experience. It was long ago, when these 

 forests were broader than they are at present, the roads 

 through them less frequented, and the elephants more 

 numerous. I was travelling by night in a palanquin on 

 my way to Mussoorie. We were about half-way through 

 the forest when suddenly the bearers stopped. I heard 

 a sound of someone shouting in advance ; the bearers 

 shouted in reply. Then they put down the palanquin in 

 the road and informed me that we must remain where 

 we were for a time, as the road in front was occupied by 

 two elephants. They had learnt this from the man who 

 had shouted, and who, they said, was the dak-runner, 

 that is the man on the post-office establishment who 

 carries the mails. On learning this I got out of the 

 palanquin to look around. The night was intensely 

 dark ; the trees on either side seemed to form a wall. 

 In front, at no great distance, I saw a moving circle of 

 sparks, something resembling a Catherine wheel. These 

 sparks, the bearers told me, proceeded from the burnt 

 end of stick which the dak-runner was waving round to 

 check the advance of the elephants ; for elephants, like 

 most other wild animals, have an extreme dread of 

 lights or fires when seen in the dark. We remained 

 thus some ten minutes or more, the dak-runner con- 

 tinuously waving his stick, and at intervals shouting 



