CHAP. VII.] 
TETEL , MY OLD HUNTER. 
181 
the discharge of the heaviest charge of powder. I 
now commenced reloading, when presently one of my 
men, Yaseen, came np upon “ Filfil.” Taking a spare 
gun from him, I rode rapidly past the elephant, and 
suddenly reining up, I made a good shot exactly 
behind the bladebone. With a shrill scream the 
elephant charged down upon me like a steam-engine. 
In went the spurs. “ Tetel ” knew his work, and away 
he went over the ruts and gullies, the high dry grass 
whistling in my ears as we shot along at full speed, 
closely followed by the enraged bull for about two 
hundred yards. 
The elephant then halted; and turning the horse's 
head, I again faced him and reloaded. I thought he 
was dying, as he stood with trunk drooping, and ears 
closely pressed back upon his neck. Just at this 
moment I heard the rush of elephants advancing 
through the green bush upon the rising ground above 
the hollow formed by the open space of high withered 
grass in which we were standing facing each other. 
My man Yaseen had bolted with his fleet horse at the 
first charge, and was not to be seen. Presently, the 
rushing sound increased, and the heads of a closely 
packed herd of about eighteen elephants showed above 
the low bushes, and they broke cover, bearing down 
directly upon me, both I and my horse being un¬ 
observed in the high grass. I never saw a more lovely 
sight; they were all bulls with immense tusks. Waiting 
until they were within twenty yards of me I galloped 
straight at them, giving a yell that turned them. Away 
they rushed up the hill, but at so great a pace, that 
upon the rutty and broken ground I could not overtake 
them, and they completely distanced me. Tetel, al¬ 
though a wonderfully steady hunter, was an uncommonly 
slow horse, but upon this day he appeared to be slower 
than usual, and I was not at the time aware that he 
was seriously ill. By following three elephants sepa¬ 
rated from the herd I came up to them by a short cut, 
and singling out a fellow with enormous tusks, I rode 
