II 
THE ELEPHANT 
55 
cries, and, unseen in the dark, it was upon them almost 
before they were aware of its presence. The strong 
posts upon which the constructions had been raised 
offered no resistance to the attack, and the miserable 
watchers found themselves hurled to the ground to¬ 
gether with the ruins of their upturned shelter. In 
another moment they were either caught and 
stamped to death, or chased through the darkness 
by the pursuing elephant, and when captured they 
were torn limb from limb, as the brute exhibited a 
cruel satisfaction in placing one foot upon the 
victim, and then tearing with its trunk an arm, a 
leg, or the head from the mangled body. 
In this manner the elephant killed upwards of 
twenty people throughout the district, and it became 
absolutely necessary, if possible, to destroy it. 
This was at last effected by Colonel Bloomfield 
and a friend, who determined at all hazards to hunt 
it down by following through the jungles, guided by 
the reports of the natives, who were on the look¬ 
out in all directions. The animal showed peculiar 
cunning, as it never remained in the same place, but 
travelled a considerable distance immediately after 
the committal of some atrocity, and concealed itself 
within the jungles until prompted to another raid 
in some new direction. I am indebted to Colonel 
Bloomfield for an interesting description of the 
manner in which, after many days of great fatigue 
and patience, he at length succeeded, with the assist¬ 
ance of native trackers, in discovering this formid¬ 
able opponent, asleep within a dense mass of thorns 
