204 
IVILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA VS 
CHAP. 
the centre at the extreme end, while I was in the 
bottom wdth the line of elephants. Begging the 
outside guns to be careful, and to reserve their fire 
until the tiger should bolt into the open, I ordered 
the elephants to form three parts of a circle, to 
touch each other shoulder to shoulder, and slowly to 
advance through the tangled reeds. This was well 
done, when suddenly the second elephant upon my 
left fell forward, and for the moment disappeared ; 
the tiger had made a sudden spring, and seizing the 
elephant by the upper portion of the trunk, had 
pulled it down upon its knees. The elephant 
recovered itself, and was quickly brought into the 
position from which for a few seconds it had 
departed. The tiger was invisible in the dense 
yellow herbage. 
Very slowly the line pressed forward, almost 
completing a circle, but just leaving an aperture a 
few yards in width to permit an escape. The 
elephant’s front was streaming with blood, and the 
others were intensely excited, although apparently 
rendered somewhat confident by pressing against 
each other towards the concealed enemy. 
Presently a mahout about two yards upon my 
right beckoned to me, and pointed downward 
with his driving-hook. I immediately backed my 
elephant out of the crowd, and took up a position 
alongside his animal. He pointed at some object 
which I could not distinguish in the tangled 
mixture of reeds, half-burnt herbage, and young 
green grass that had grown through; at length 
