CHAPTER XTL 



ELEPHANT HUNTING. 



♦' A Lodge in a Vast Wilderness." — Hut-building with Bamboos. — Elysian at 

 Last. — Character of Elephant Hunting. — Grand but Dangerous Sport. — 

 Indian versus African Methods. — The Skull. — Difficulty of Hitting the 

 Brain. — Cranial Fracture Impossible. — The Fatal Shots. — Physique of the 

 Elephant. — Tracking up a Herd. — Welcome Sounds. — Surrounded by 

 Giants — The Attack — Stampede and Flight of the Herd. — Great Abund- 

 ance of Large Game. — The Charge of a Dangerous Animal. — Fooling 

 around a Baby Elephant. — Charge of an Infuriated Female. — A Grand but 

 " Scarey " Sight. — Repelling the Charge. 



Although there was really an abundance of game around Toonaca- 

 davoo, such as bison, sambur, "wild goat, muntjac and monkeys, 

 there were no elephants, nor would there be any in that immediate 

 vicinity until very late in the season. Moreover, had there been 

 ever so many, we could not have killed one there. About a day's 

 march farther into the very heart of the forest, they were quite 

 numerous, and I soon decided to go out and camp where game of 

 all kinds was most abundant. Accordingly, when the elephant 

 permit came to hand from the old Kajah, we packed up provisions, 

 preservatives and ammunition, pots, pans, and camp furniture, and 

 took up the line of march for Tellicul, a mere vacant spot in the 

 heart of the forest. And there, at the confluence of two little rivers, 

 the Toonacadavoo and the Teckadee, where the teak- trees and the 

 bamboos were the tallest, where the forest was silent, sombre, and 

 shadowy, where big game was thick all about us and no white man 

 ever came, my men cut down big bamboos and built huts for us all. 

 To me this hut-building is an interesting operation. First a 

 skeleton hut is built of large bamboo stems set upright in the 

 ground, and a ridge-pole, plate and rafters lashed firmly to them 

 with green bark. Then large bamboo stems are cut in lengths cor- 

 responding to the length and width of the hut, and split irregularly 

 all over. Finally each stem is split quite open on one side, and the 



