236 THE FORESTS OF UPPER INDIA 



edge of the cut-away bank with his trunk, then kneels 

 down on his hind-legs. He has a useful joint correspond- 

 ing to the knee of a man, kneeling on which he slips his 

 trunk and fore-legs over the edge, and feels till he gets 

 some foothold below on the sloping bank. Then he goes 

 down, carefully adjusting his feet, crumbling the bank 

 away, and lowering himself in a flabby manner to the 

 bottom. He appears to keep his head and to face almost 

 any obstacle, and preserves his balance wonderfully. 

 Having crossed the stream, testing the sandy bottom with 

 his trunk to avoid quicksand, he again faces the rising 

 bank, and, cUmbing up the most likely slope, he puts up 

 first one foot, then the other ; then, kneeling on his fore- 

 knees, he pulls up the hind, kneeling on each leg before 

 rising, in a deliberate, slow manner, which soon inspires 

 confidence on the rider's part. The howdah certainly 

 takes appalling angles, and one feels balanced over a 

 precipice ; but after negotiating half a dozen such ravines 

 safely, and being assured by the mahout of the perfect 

 excellence of his elephant, one ceases to tremble. A 

 veritable bog, phasan, is the most dangerous thing an 

 elephant can face. When one fore-leg goes down into a 

 treacherous swamp or quicksand, and the other follows 

 from the fierce tussle to pull the great unwieldy leg out, 

 then poor hati gets into a fearful state, struggling madly 

 and groaning, dragging at each leg alternately and rolling 

 from side to side, till all four legs get stuck. Then, if he 

 meets no firmer ground in front, ensues a battle sad to look 

 at. He becomes terrified, and will snatch in his trunk 

 anything he can lay hold of to put under his feet, even a 

 man. Branches of trees are thrown to him in quantities. 

 There was one who got into a quicksand at Gorakhpur 

 in the Gumti river, who went down lower every day, till 

 nothing remained but the end of his trunk over the sand, 



