MONKEYS, BEAKS, AXD ELEPHANTS. 149 



fearfully, nearly knocking me over, and I thought it had killed 

 both the elephant and myself, but to my disgust I found it had 

 done neither. The elephant wheeled around, and in doing so fell 

 upon his knees, but while I was recovering fi'om the stunning 

 effects of my shot, he regained his feet and made off slowly and in 

 silence. 



Willing the tears from my eyes and the blood from my nose, I 

 started after him as fast as I could nin, reloading as I went. At 

 every new turn I expected to come upon him lying dead, but some- 

 how I didn't. We were sure of having him down within an hour, 

 and as we went puffing up that steep mountain-side, I planned just 

 how we would skin and skeletonize him and get his remains to the 

 nearest road. We were pushing along at our best speed, all excite- 

 ment and eagerness, determined to bring down that elephant before 

 we stojDped, no matter whether he ran one mile or twenty, when 

 suddeDly we heard, " Hi-z/o/i-ho ! " shouted out loud and clear a 

 quarter of a mile directly ahead of us. 



At this claj) of thunder from a clear sky, we stopped dead short 

 and looked at each other. " Hi-i/oh-ho !" Again and much nearer ! 

 The men turned almost pale with fear, and with one voice exclaimed 

 in a most tragic stage-whisper, " Shavoogan 1 " 



It was the only time I ever saw those rascals really terrified. 

 Without another word, they wheeled about, turned off the trail and 

 fled down the mountain at full sjDced ; of course I followed to see 

 that they all got safely back to camp. We went down the steep 

 slope about six feet at every step, fleeing in dead silence from that 

 terrible " Shavoogan," whatever that was. We went as though 

 the great dragon was close behind us, and never paused a moment, 

 nor uttered a word, until we were at least three miles from that 

 awful "Shavoogan." Then we enjoyed a laugh at our own expense 

 over the sudden and ludicrous manner in which the tables were , 

 tunied upon us. 



I need scarcely add that that elephant escaped, or that we. .di(l.,| 

 also, and that I added another word to my Tamil vocabulary. 

 "Shavoogan,"' is the Tamil word for "watchman" or "peon," and 

 the one we heard belonged to the service of the Rajah of Cochin. 



To my dying day, I shall never understand how I failed to kiU 

 that elephant in his tracks. I had a fan* shot, had done my very 

 best and failed, and was therefore at my wit's end. Such failures 

 as that and my first one are, of all others, the most disappointing 

 and discouraging. I had done all I knew how to do, and what 



