232 SAD J^ESULTS OF A SHOOTING-TRIP! 



hills of the higher ranges of the Billiga-rungims, my tranquillity was disturbed 

 by seeing his reverence with his coat off, dragging an elephant's ear in one 

 hand, whilst he carried three feet of its trunk over his shoulder, across the 

 plain towards his tents ! This was maddening ! I felt that I met him at 

 a serious disadvantage, and I am afraid I approached his lowly tenement in 

 a wrong spirit ; it had to be such an extremely humble one, as I had nothing 

 to set off against his tusker ! 



However, I found him as pleasant a companion as he was a keen sports- 

 man. He was chaplain to the Madras Eailway Company, his duty being 

 to visit the various employees at stations along the line where there were 

 no facilities for public worship. My wicked feelings regarding the elephant 

 vanished in his genial society ; and when I learnt some time afterwards of 

 the disasters which followed his trip — of his having got severe jungle-fever, 

 the effects of the damp encampment he had chosen at Poonjoor ; and that, 

 when on a trip to the Neilgherries to dispel its effects, he had got married, 

 and had been obliged to sell off his battery, — I felt none of the delight 

 which I am afraid I might have experienced at Poonjoor could I have con- 

 templated his future reduced condition. 



The narrowest escape I ever had in elephant-shooting happened more 

 than a thousand miles from the scene of the above adventures. It occurred 

 in the Garrow hills, whilst I was in temporary charge of the Elephant 

 Kheddah Establishment in Bengal in 1875-76. Before relating it I wiU 

 venture to give a short account of these hills, as they are practically a terra 

 incognita, even to Europeans in India, not a hundred of whom have ever 

 visited them. The duty which led me into the hills was a prospecting 

 expedition for the elephant-catching establishment. I had with me nine 

 elephants for travelling. The large number in the stud at Dacca enabled 

 me to select good ones, with which I was able to move comfortably and fast. 



The Garrow hills are situated on the north-eastern frontier of Bengal, 

 and are bounded by Nepaul on the north, and Assam on the east. They 

 are some 4000 square miles in extent, or four times the area of the Neil- 

 gherries. They have only been subject to British rule since 1868 ; prior 

 to this they were independent and unexplored territory. The lawlessness 

 of the Garrows, who made raids into the low country of Bengal from time 

 to time, eventually necessitated their being placed under supervision. Eor 

 this purpose an armed poKce force entered the hills in 1868, and estabhshed 

 the present small hill-station of Tura. The hills are now under the Chief 

 Commissioner of Assam. A deputy commissioner, police officer, and surgeon 

 reside at Tura, which boasts of three wooden bungalows, a rough-and-ready 

 style of jail for peccant Garrows, and a compact block of police huts. It 



