104 TWO YEAES IN THE JU]S^GLE. 



turn, while I stood by with a very straight face to lend an air of 

 owlish solemnity to the scene. 



Without a moment's delay we broke up our camp and hurried 

 off to the dead elephant, which lay in a wild, unfrequented spot be- 

 tween two ranges of hills. We had a small tent, which we pitched 

 in a lovely little valley, beside a running stream, a quarter of a mile 

 from the elephant. The men cleared a place between three bamboo 

 clumps and piled bamboo branches in the openings, so that a wild 

 animal could not walk over them as they slept without their know- 

 ing of its approach. Shortly before sunset our camp Avas settled 

 and we were ready for work. I " harangued " the men for a mo- 

 ment, telling them we had hard work ahead of us, and that for the 

 next two or three days I would expect them to work hard, and I 

 would double their wages. Then I seiwed out arrack and tobacco 

 all around, got out the skinning-knives, gTindstone, oilstone, lan- 

 tern, etc., and we lit down upon that carcass like a flock of vultures. 



The elephant had fallen upon his side, back down hill fortu- 

 nately, and we took his dimensions very easily. He was eight feet 

 four inches in vertical height at the shoulders. As he lay there the 

 top of the carcass was just on a level with my chin, and our task 

 was to quany the entire skeleton out of that great mountain of 

 flesh and blood. We decided that we did not dare to attempt taking 

 the skin, for under the circumstances we would have all we could 

 do to take even the skeleton and get awa}' with it without being 

 seen by any of the Cochin people. Besides, I wanted the skin of a 

 larger animal than that proved to be. 



First, we stripped the skin from the upper side of the animal, to 

 have it out of the way, then cut off the two legs which were upper- 

 most, the one at the shoulder and the other at the hip, and set two 

 men at work upon them to cut off the flesh, piece by piece. We 

 found that it required the strength of two men to roll the fore-leg 

 over as it lay upon the ground. From the first we worked very 

 systematically, cutting off the flesh in huge chunks and tumbling it 

 dowTi the hill out of the way. The viscera soon swelled to an enoi'- 

 mous size, and when we cut open the abdomen they burst out in a 

 huge, unwieldy mass, that cost us three hours' hard tugging and 

 lifting to detach and move out of the way. 



When night came we Hghted our lantern, built a large fire near 

 the carcass, and while one man held the lantern and piled di-y wood 

 upon the fire to keep it blazing brightly, the rest of us toiled oi» 

 till midnight, like so many bloody vampires. At last we were quite 



