i/6 IN THE INDIAN JUNGLE. 



be at the water-course about ten o'clock and that 

 they must hurry off. Theobald and one shikari 

 took up a position pointed out to them by the 

 Sholiga in the nullah commanding the right bank. 

 He told them to be careful and not show them- 

 selves nor to make any noise, but to peer over 

 the edge of the bank now and again to see the 

 elephant approach, while he would be off to see 

 that all was right. Perching themselves on a 

 small ledge in the bank they waited till about 

 half-past nine when they saw a huge elephant ap- 

 proaching cautiously from a direction at right angles 

 to the nullah. There was the great brute with the 

 point of his trunk nearly touching the ground, 

 smelling carefully at a trail of some kind. Now 

 and again he would stop and elevate his trunk, 

 turning it on all sides to scent out anything strange. 

 Being reassured, he would again move cautiously 

 forward, still carefully scenting the ground and 

 making direct for the spot where the hunters lay 

 concealed. There all was in readiness. No mistake 

 this time. It was the mad elephant. Theobald 

 would have liked a side-shot just behind the 

 opening of the ear, as he had bagged dozens of 

 elephants each with a single shot there ; but 

 from the direction in which the elephant was 

 approaching, there was no chance of the ear-shot, 

 so he determined to take the next best place the 

 fleshy protuberance in the middle of the forehead. 

 The elephant was advancing slowly, with head 

 lowered, and was now about twenty paces off. Sud- 

 denly he stopped and raised his head, with the flaps 



