AN ELEPHANT CHASE. 107 



five to thirty of them. The instant I came upon them 

 they got my wind, and, rumbling, away they went in 

 three divisions into the impenetrable cover. 



The ground that I had now reached was one solid 

 mass of sharp adamantine blocks of rpck, so that a 

 horse could with difficulty walk on it. I held along 

 the ridge above the cover, and in half a minute I . 

 heard one division of the elephants crashing through 

 the cover after me. They came on a little above rae, 

 and another troop held the same course a little before 

 me, so that I had considerable difficulty in getting clear 

 of them, and when I did I held for the level ground be- 

 tieath the dense cover. Here I fell in with one, ele- 

 phant with a calf: she had only one tooth. I gave her 

 a shot after the shoulder ; and next minute, while try- 

 ing to head her in the dense cover, she very nearly ran 

 me down in her charge. I, of course, lost her imme- 

 diately, being without dogs. 



I then gave up the elephants in vexation with the 

 ground, and rode to explore the ravine. My wounded 

 elephant, however, happened to take the same course 

 above me in the cover, and I once more -fell in with her. 

 She was going slowly along the hill sides, keeping in 

 the thickest cover, with a rocky ground, where my 

 horse would be of no service to me. I might now have 

 got her, but as she had only one tooth I was not anx- 

 ious about her, so I held up the bold ravine. 



Here, as I expected, I found a strong fountain in a 

 solid rocky basin not more than ten f^et wide : it was 

 a very interesting spot, approachable by three different 

 rugged passes, the sides of which were furrowed by 

 broad foot-paths established there through ages. The 

 large stones and masses of rook were either kicked to 

 the side or packed into a level "like a pavement;" everj 



