Chap. III.] THE ELEPHANT. 
137 
farther precaution of hanging up a few leaves. 1 As the rain 
was coming down fast and thick, and I was anxious to get 
to our halting-place before night, we moved on at a rapid pace. 
My brother-in-law was in the van of the party, I myself was 
in the rear, and the four coolies between us, all moving 
along on a rugged, rocky, and difficult path ; as the road to 
Badulla till lately was on the sloping side of a hill, covered 
with jungle, pieces of projecting rock, and brushwood. It 
was about five o'clock in the evening, or a little later, and we 
had hardly cleared the foot of the hill and got to the plain 
below, when a rustling of leaves and a crackling of dry brush- 
wood were heard on our right, followed immediately by the 
trumpeting of a hora allia 2 , which was making towards us. "We 
all fled, followed by the elephant. I, who was in the rear of 
the party, was the first to take to flight ; the coolies threw away 
their pingoes, and my brother-in-law his umbrella, and all ran 
in different directions. I hid myself behind a large boulder of 
granite nearly covered by jungle : but as my place of conceal- 
ment was on high ground, I could see all that was going on 
below. The first thing I observed was the elephant returning 
to the place where one of the pingoes was lying : he was 
carrying one of the coolies in a coil of his trunk. The 
body of the man was dangling with the head downward. I 
cannot say whether he was then alive or not ; I could not 
perceive any marks of blood or bruises on his person : but 
he appeared to be lifeless. The elephant placed him down 
on the ground, put the pingo on his (the man's) shoulder, 
steadying both the man and the pingo with his trunk 
and fore-legs. But the man of course did not move or stand 
up with his pingo. Seeing this, the elephant again raised the 
cooly and dashed him against the ground, and then trampled 
1 The Singhalese hold the be- pecially of elephants. Can it he 
lief, that twigs taken from one that the latter avoid the path, on 
bnsh and placed on another grow- discovering this evidence of the 
ing close to a pathway, ensure proximity of recent passengers ? 
protection to travellers from the 2 A rogue elephant, 
attacks of wild animals, and es- 
