THE ANIMAL AT BAY. 117 



In the midst of this uproar J. and I were compelled to 

 remain inactive at our posts, it being our duty to prevent 

 the tigress from passing us undetected ; but when a cry was 

 raised that B.'s "Mahout " was being carried off, we advanced 

 into the centre of the jungle where the elephant had been 

 pulled down, and presently observed the grass before me 

 waving violently. Believing that the man was really being 

 dragged away, I forbore to fire until I saw some part of the 

 brindled skin, lest I should strike the man, and therefore my 

 elephant was pushed on as fast as possible, while I leaned 

 forward with finger on trigger, prepared to fire as soon as I 

 got a view. While thus peering eagerly a-head of me, I 

 received a shock which almost threw me out of the " howdah," 

 as the tigress, springing upon the " mukna's " head with a growl 

 like the roll of thunder, nearly brought him to his knees ; but 

 here she had met more than her match, for the gallant old 

 hero, shaking her off, administered a kick with one of his 

 forelegs which flung her some yards before him into the thick 

 grass. Before I could recover my standing position to fire, 

 the infuriated tigress, turning upon J.'s elephant, seized her 

 hind leg with her fangs, burying them in the flesh, while 

 with her claws she deeply scored the poor beast's hams. This 

 attack giving me an opening, I put a bullet into the tigress's 

 ribs, which caused her to relinquish her hold and charge the 

 few remaining pad elephants, and chase all but one clear out 

 of the jungle. 



After this, my own, J.'s, and a very large old pad ele- 

 phant belonging to the Commissariat Department, were the 

 only ones left in the field ; some were flying across country, 

 others were clubbed with heads together, piping and trumpet- 

 ing with rage and fear; B.'s little elephant stood in the 

 fields with drooping ears and bleeding head, at a loss to un- 

 derstand why her Mahout had deserted, and the meaning of 

 the uproar around, and her own wounds. F. was a speck on 

 the horizon; and lastly W.'s elephant, usually a steady. 

 matronly creature, was in full flight at her very best pace. It 

 was W.'s custom to have with him always a fast elephant, 



