280 
THE ELEPHANT. 
glen which had been the scene of our exploits 
during the early part of the action, a calf of about 
three-and-a-half feet high walked forth from a bush, 
and saluted us wuth mournful piping notes. We 
had observed the unhappy little wretch hovering 
about its mother after she fell, and having, pro¬ 
bably, been unable to overtake the herd, it had 
passed a dreary night in the wood. Entwining its 
little proboscis about our legs, the sagacious crea¬ 
ture, after demonstrating its delight at our arrival 
by a thousand ungainly antics, accompanied the 
party to the body of its dam. ..The con¬ 
duct of the quaint little calf now became quite 
affecting, and elicited the sympathy of everyone. 
It ran round its mother’s corpse with touching de¬ 
monstrations of grief, piping sorrowfully, and vainly 
attempting to raise her with its tiny trunk. I con¬ 
fess that I had felt compunction in committing the 
murder the day before, and now half resolved never 
to assist in another; for, in addition to the moving 
behaviour of the young elephant, I had been unable 
to divest myself of the idea that I was firing at my 
old favourite Mowla-Buhhsh , from whose gallant 
back I had vanquished so many of my feline foes in 
Guzerat—an impression which, however ridiculous 
it must appear, detracted considerably from the 
satisfaction I experienced.” 
My friend Green also testifies to the filial affec¬ 
tion at times displayed by the calf— 66 he himself 
having seen it,” he tells me, “ turn upon the hunter 
in defence of its mother.” 
In parenthesis, I may mention that Gordon 
