270 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
On the night of the mishap, one of my men 
killed the puff adder that had caused the trouble 
and eventually presented the skin to Malingum, 
who, in a spirit of sardonic humour, fashioned it 
into a belt, saying :— 
‘You tried to kill me and now I shall revenge 
myself by making use of your old hide ! ’ 
A few days after this episode, while we were in 
pursuit of three elephants, a peculiar incident 
occurred. The largest of the three, whose tusks 
were below the average, only weighing 46 and 48 
lbs., each, I shot with comparative ease ; the other 
two, being young bulls with quite insignificant 
tusks, I left severely alone. Scared by my first 
shot, however, they had bolted, and doubling back 
on the spoor, met my carriers who were following 
me at a distance of about a mile. Being in a 
dangerous mood, one of these bulls, on seeing my 
men, charged them furiously and they, dropping 
their loads with fright, scattered in all directions. 
Two of the party, who had been carrying an empty 
maschilla, slightly in advance of the others, were the 
first to discard their burden and flee for dear life, 
and the infuriated elephant, catching sight of this 
object lying in the path of his pursuit, angrily 
grabbed it and began wreaking his vengeance on it 
as he bore it along. This operation he performed 
to his thorough satisfaction—tearing the canvas to 
