150 



TWO YEARS IN THE JUNGLE. 



could I do more ? Those were the bitterest failures I ever made in 

 hunting. 



During my first six weeks in the hUls, all circumstances seemed 

 to combine against me. Several times we found the fresh tracks of 

 elephants, and followed them diligently for several hours, only to 

 find where the trail crossed over into the Government Forest, 

 w'here we had no right to follow. It seemed at last as if the ele- 

 phants knew that when we got after them, they had only to cross 

 the Teckadee River to get beyond our reach, and Enally we almost 

 despaired of ever coming up with elephants in our forest. 



During all this time I devoted myself almost exclusively to ele- 

 phants, killing no other game of any consequence, save enough 

 deer and sambur to supply the camp with meat. Indeed, I fired as 

 few shots as possible to avoid frightening away the larger kinds of 

 game, particularly the elephants. I had had two glorious chances, 

 and each time failed to kill, although I had done my best. In fact, 

 I was trying to shoot an elephant according to the recipe given me 

 by my friend Theobald, and it was uphill work. Every week or 

 ten days I had an attack of jungle fever, but it was always of the 

 mild, intermittent type, and after about three days I would have it 

 broken up with quinine, so that I could go hunting every day 

 again until it returned. Several times the fever came on me when 

 out hunting, several miles from camp, and I would have to crawl 

 back as best I could, with my head thi'obbing Hke a steam-engine. 

 My remedy for the fever was ten grains of quinine dissolved in half 

 a wine-glassful of clear brandy, taken two or three hovirs before the 

 fever was expected, then the same dose morning, noon, and night, 

 until once more able to travel. 



My provisions became exhausted all too soon, and I came down 

 to plain bread, rice, and venison, with a jDotato now and then, by 

 way of luxury. ?.Iy cook was a failure at making curry, that " dish 

 fit for the gods," without which India would be uninhabitable for 

 either natives or Europeans. Being heavily handicapped on curry, 

 I had to live r.pon deer and sambur tongues, with venison steaks and 

 roasts by way of variety, and dry boiled rice. Once a week Mr. 

 Theobald and I sent a coolie to Coimbatore (50 miles), for a basket 

 of bread, but by the time the loaves reached me, they were always 

 mouldy. A dozen bananas or potatoes were a positive treat, so 

 scarce were fruit and vegetables during that long period of semi- 

 starvation. After a while, there came upon me an intense craving 

 for vegetables, which could only be satisfied by Crosse & Black- 



