of the Old World. 273 



for the night, every one rolled up in a combley 

 blanket. 



I had slept for some hours, when suddenly I was 

 awakened by Chineah laying his hand on my 

 shoulder, with a significant low whistle, which signal 

 with the gang denoted that " something is stirring." 

 I immediately sprang to my feet on the alert, and, 

 after listening attentively for a moment, heard a loud 

 crackling of bamboos, as if some large animals were 

 forcing their way through the jungle, accompanied 

 by a curious blowing noise, which at first I thought 

 was the grunting of a bull-bison, but shortly after- 

 wards I distinctly recognised the " trumpeting " of 

 elephants, and the continual crashing of trees at no 

 great distance left no doubt on my mind but that a 

 herd was near at hand. I put fresh caps on my 

 guns, for fear the old ones might have been injured 

 with the dampness of the night air, and taking 

 Chineah (on whose pluck I knew I could fully 

 depend) with me to carry my spare guns, I cau- 

 tioned the rest to lie quiet until my return, and 

 sallied forth to reconnoitre. 



A full moon was nearly at its zenith, so that, 

 except where the foliage was very dense, or under 

 the deep shade of the mighty forest, we had no diffi- 

 culty in discerning our way, guided by the strange 

 noises and frequent crashing and rending of trees, 

 which sounded at times almost as loud as the report 



