180 A TUG OF WAR. 



We continued to dig and scrape with our sticks and hands 

 at the hole our operations being sometimes interrupted by 

 the startling presence of the creature's head, which it occa- 

 sionally poked towards the entrance; and from the lively 

 manner in which it kept darting out its little forked tongue, 

 it seemed to be gradually awakening to a sense of its impend- 

 ing danger. It still, strange to say, allowed the few feet of 

 its tail we had managed to expose to lie outside the hole a 

 fact for which I cannot account, except by supposing the 

 snake to have been too sluggish to withdraw it. 



At last the elephant and tools arrived, when a bright idea 

 struck us, we might draw it out with the elephant ! Suffici- 

 ent rope for the purpose was loosened from the elephant's pad. 

 This rope, which was made of cotton, and about the thickness 

 of a man's thumb, was hitched round the snake's tail, and its 

 remaining length brought up again to the pad and fastened 

 there, thus doubling its strength. 



Now came the tug of war ! A sudden jerk might have torn 

 the skin ; the mahout was therefore warned to put on the 

 strain gradually. Little did we know what a tough and 

 an obstinate customer we had to deal with. Tighter and 

 tighter grew the ropes, when " crack " went one of them. 

 Still the strain was increased, until again " crack " the other 

 had snapped also, leaving the snake in statu quo. 



We were now at our wits' end as to how we should proceed 

 to dislodge the creature without injuring its skin by shooting 

 into the hole. After a short consultation and an inspection 

 of the surrounding ground, we came to the conclusion that 

 before resorting to this last resource there still remained one 

 chance. 



Situated on the other side of the den, and pretty close to it, 

 was the abrupt extremity of a small ravine. By counter- 

 mining from this we might be able to attack the place in rear. 

 We accordingly turned-to once more at our excavating oper- 

 ations, which were now more rapid and easy from our having 



