148 TWO YEAES IN THE JUNGLE. 



do nest. Not a sound was heard for some minutes, not a movement 

 seen. At last we stole up cautiously, and to my utter amazement I 

 found that the entire herd had taken the alarm and stolen ofi 

 through the thick undergrowth, without making a single sound that 

 we could hear at a distance of fifty yards ! Not a rustle, not a 

 broken twig, nor a noisy footfall. 



I was really amazed at this exhibition of sagacity and almost 

 military manceuvring. We saw them deliberately 



1. Reconnoitre dangerous gi'ound by sending out scouts and 

 spies. 



2. Communicate intelligence by signs, or sign language. 



3. Retreat in orderly silence from a lurking danger ; and 



4. March off in single file, like the jungle tribes of men. 



How different was this stealthy, noiseless retreat from the wild 

 stampede which follows an open attack, in which the crashing and 

 tearing through the jungle is at first appalling. This time the foe 

 was still in ambush when discovered, and the order signalled was, 

 "Retreat in silence and good order." 



And yet there are intelligent people who beheve that none of 

 the lower animals are capable of reasoning. 



I have often been led to admire the perfect silence in which the 

 elephant goes through the densest jungle, particularly when fleeing 

 from an enemy. The sambur goes tearing through the forest when 

 alarmed, smashing dry twigs and galloping over the ground with 

 80 much noise that he can be heard more than a quarter of a mile 

 away ; a herd of bison makes the earth fairly tremble during its 

 first bui'st ; but the lordly elephant, largest of all terrestrial mam- 

 mals, glides away like a gray shadow, without breaking a twig, or 

 scraping against a bough. His foot is like a huge, india-rubber 

 car-spring, and is hterally shod with silence. 



Upon finding the elephants had decamped, we immediately made 

 after them, and in half an hour came suddenly upon them, feed- 

 ing quietly in thick underbrush. By great good luck the old 

 tusker was nearest us, and facing in our direction. Without a 

 moment's delay, I crept up in front of him, hid behind a tree con- 

 siderably smaller than my body, and at a distance of twelve paces 

 waited in anxious suspense for him to face me a trifle more fully. 

 Presently he swung around just right, and presented as beautiful a 

 front head-shot as any hunter could possibly ask or obtain. I fired 

 instantly, both barrels of my No. 10 with twelve drachms, aiming at 

 the base of the trunk in the centre of the face. The gun kicked 



