OUR BACKYARD CIRCUS 109 



collided with a terrific crash. The latter 's massive 

 head was caved in and he was instantly killed. But 

 the momentum of his enormous carcass weighing 

 several tons did its work. The engine was derailed 

 and its front end crushed to a shapeless mass. 



Contrast the atmosphere around Lake Paradise 

 where Osa rushed in one morning from her garden 

 with flushed face and flashing eyes exclaiming: 



"Oh, I think it's mean of them!" 



"Who?" I snapped, wondering angrily if the 

 natives had been misbehaving. 



"Those elephants. They've been at my vegetable 

 garden again!" 



Wild elephants, too ; wild and free as the mammoth 

 and mastodon were in their day, and nearly as big. 



As I said before, I think our guide Boculy knows 

 more about elephants than any man living. He 

 could study a single elephant track and usually in a 

 few minutes tell me just how many there were in the 

 herd, where they had gone, what they were doing and 

 what we should do to find and photograph them. 



He was an absolutely tireless fellow. Indeed he 

 never could understand any of the rest of us getting 

 tired. Time and again he walked us for three or foiu: 

 hours up and down hills and across rough sun- 

 scorched stones, imtil we would call a halt in sheer 

 exhaustion. 



He was never at a loss for a reply if I tried to hurry 



