The Rifle And The Hound In Ceylon(Fiscle Part-3), Sir Samuel White Baker [most inspirational books .txt] 📗

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Bamboo,  Carried By Two Coolies.

 

Clothes Must Always Be Packed In Tin Boxes,  Or The Whole Case Will Most

Likely Be Devoured By White Ants.

 

Cooking Utensils Must Be Carried In Abundance,  Together With A Lantern,

Axe,  Bill-Hook,  Tinder-Box,  Matches,  Candles,  Oil,  Tea,  Coffee,  Sugar,

Biscuits,  Wine,  Brandy,  Sauces,  Etc.,  A Few Hams,  Some Tins Of Preserved

Meats And Soups,  And A Few Bottles Of Curacea,  A Glass Of Which,  In The

Early Dawn,  After A Cup Of Hot Coffee And A Biscuit,  Is A Fine

Preparation For A Day's Work.

 

I Once Tried The Rough System Of Travelling,  And Started Off With

Nothing But My Guns,  Clothes,  A Box Of Biscuits,  And A Few Bottles Of

Brandy--No Bed,  No Pillow,  No Tent Nor Chairs Or Table,  But,  As My

Distressed Servant Said,  'No Nothing.' This Was Many Years Ago,  When The

Excitement Of Wild Sports Was Sufficient To Laugh At Discomfort. I

Literally Depended Upon My Gun For Food,  And My Cooking Utensils

Consisted Of One Saucepan And A Gridiron,  A 'Stew' And A 'Fry' Being All

That I Looked Forward To In The Way Of Gourmandism. Sleeping On The Bare

Ground In Native Huts,  Dining Cross-Legged Upon Mother Earth,  With A

Large Leaf As A Substitute For A Plate,  A Cocoa-Nut Shell For A Glass,

My Hunting-Knife Comprising All My Cutlery,  I Thus Passed Through A

Large District Of Wild Country,  Accompanied By B.,  And I Never Had More

Exciting Sport.

 

It Was On This Occasion That I Had A Memorable Hunt In The Neighbourhood

Of Narlande,  Within Thirty Miles Of Kandy. It Was Our First Day's Stage,

And,  Upon Our Arrival,  At About 2 P.M.,  We Left Our Guns At The

Post-Holder's Hut,  While We Proceeded To The River To Bathe.

 

We Were Hardly Dressed Before A Native Came Running To Tell Us That

Part 3 Chapter 4 Pg 30

Several Elephants Were Devouring His Crop Of Korrakan--A Grain Something

Like Clover-Seed,  Upon Which The People In This Part Almost Entirely

Subsist.

 

Without A Moment's Delay We Sent For The Guns. The Post-Holder Was A

Good Tracker,  And A Few Minutes Of Sharp Walking Through A Path Bordered

On Either Side By Dense Thorny Bush Brought Us To A Chena Jungle Ground,

Or Cultivated Field. The Different Watch-Houses Erected In The Large

Trees Were Full Of People,  Who Were Shrieking And Yelling At The Top Of

Their Voices,  Having Just Succeeded In Scaring The Elephants Into The

Jungle.

 

The Whole Of The Country In This Neighbourhood Has,  In Successive Ages,

Been Cleared And Cultivated: The Forest Has Been Felled. The Poverty Of

The Soil Yields Only One Crop,  And The Lately Cleared Field Is Again

Restored To Nature. Dense Thorny Jungle Immediately Springs Up,  Which A

Man Cannot Penetrate Without Being Torn To Pieces By The Briars. This Is

Called Chena Jungle,  And Is Always The Favourite Resort Of Elephants And

All Wild Animals,  The Impervious Character Of The Bush Forming A Secure

Retreat.

 

From These Haunts The Elephants Commit Nocturnal Descents Upon The Crops

Of The Natives. The Korrakan Is A Sweet Grass,  Growing About Two Feet

High,  And So Partial Are The Elephants To This Food That They Will

Invade The Isolated Field Even During The Daytime. Driven Out By Shouts

And By Shots Fired By The Natives From Their Secure Watch-Houses,  They

Will Retreat To Their Cover,  But In A Few Minutes They Reappear From

Another Part Of The Jungle And Again Commence Their Depredations.

 

The Havoc Committed By A Large Herd Of Elephants Can Well Be Imagined.

 

In This Instance There Were Only Three Elephants--A Large Bull,  With A

Mother And Her Young One,  Or What We Call A 'Poonchy.' On Entering The

Korrakan Field We Distinctly Heard Them Breaking The Boughs At No Great

Distance. We Waited For Some Time To See If They Would Return To The

Field; But They Apparently Were Aware Of Some Impending Danger,  As They

Did Not Move From Their Strong Position. This Was A Cunning Family Of

Elephants,  As They Had Retreated 'Down Wind,' And The Jungle Being So

Thick That We Could With Difficulty Follow Even Upon Their Track,  Made

It Very Doubtful Whether We Should Kill Them.

 

We Cautiously Entered. It Was One Mass Of Thorns,  And We Were Shortly

Compelled To Crawl Upon Our Hands And Knees. This Was Arduous Work,  As

We Had Great Difficulty In Carrying The Guns So As To Avoid The

Slightest Noise. I Was Leading The Way,  And Could Distinctly Hear The

Rustling Of The Leaves As The Elephants Moved Their Ears. We Were Now

Within A Few Feet Of Them,  But Not An Inch Of Their Bodies Could Be

Seen,  So Effectually Were They Hidden By The Thick Jungle. Suddenly We

Heard The Prolonged Wh-R-R,  Wh-R-R-R-R-R,  As One Of The Elephants Winded

Us: The Shrill Trumpet Sounded In Another Direction,  And The Crash

Through The Jungle Took Place Which Nothing But An Elephant Can Produce.

In Such Dense Jungle,  Where The Elephants Are Invisible,  This Crash Is

Most Exciting If Close At Hand,  As In The Present Instance.

 

It Is At The First Burst Impossible To Tell Whether The Elephant Is

Coming At You Or Rushing Away. In Either Case It Is Extremely Dangerous,

As These Chena Jungles Are Almost Devoid Of Trees; Thus There Is No

Cover Of Sufficient Strength To Protect A Man Should He Attempt To Jump

On One Side,  And He May Even Be Run Over By Accident.

 

A Few Moments Assured Us Of Their Retreat,  And We Instantly Followed

Upon Their Track,  Running At Full Speed Along The Lane Which They Had

Crushed In Their Headlong Flight. This Was No Easy Matter; The Jungle

Itself Was Certainly Broken Down,  But Innumerable Hooked Thorns,  Hanging

From Rope-Like Creepers,  Which Had Been Torn Down By The Rush Of The

Elephants,  Caught Us Upon Every Side. In A Few Minutes Our Clothes Were

In Rags,  And We Were Bleeding From Countless Scratches,  But We Continued

The Chase As Fast As We Could Run Upon The Track. The Prickly Cactus

Which Abounds In These Jungles,  And Grows To The Height Of Twenty Feet,

In Some Places Checked Us For A Few Moments,  Being Crushed Into A Heap

By The Horny-Footed Beasts Before Us. These Obstacles Overcome,  We Again

Pushed On At A Rapid Pace,  Occasionally Listening For A Sound Of The

Retreating Game.

 

We Now Observed That The Herd Had Separated; The Bull Had Gone Off In

One Direction,  And The Female With Her Half-Grown Poonchy In Another.

Following The Latter,  We Again Pushed On At A Quick Run,  As The

Elephants Had Evidently Gone Off At A Great Pace And Were Far In

Advance. For About Half An Hour We Had Continued The Pursuit At The Same

Speed,  When We Suddenly Heard The Warning Wh-R-R-R-R As The Elephants

Winded Us At A Distance Of 200 Yards,  And The Crash Instantly Following

This Sound Told Us Too Plainly That The Game Was Fearfully On The Alert,

And Gave Us Little Hopes Of Overtaking Them,  As They Were Travelling

Directly Down Wind.

 

Speed Was Our Only Chance,  And Again We Rushed Forward In Hot Pursuit

Through The Tangled Briars,  Which Yielded To Our Weight,  Although We

Were Almost Stripped Of Clothes. Another Half Hour Passed,  And We Had

Heard No Further Signs Of The Game. We Stopped To Breathe,  And We

Listened Attentively For The Slightest Sound. A Sudden Crash In The

Jungle At A Great Distance Assured Us That We Were Once More Discovered.

The Chase Seemed Hopeless; The Heat Was Most Oppressive; And We Had Been

Running For The Last Hour At A Killing Pace Through A Most Distressing

Country. Once More,  However,  We Started Off,  Determined To Keep Up The

Pursuit As Long As Daylight Would Permit. It Was Now 5 P.M.,  And We Had

One Hour Left Before Darkness Would Set In. The Wind Had Entirely

Ceased,  Leaving A Perfect Calm; The Air Was Thick And Heavy,  And The

Heat Was Thus Rendered Doubly Fatiguing. We Noticed,  However,  That The

Track Of The Elephants Had Doubled Back Instead Of Continuing In The

Direct Line That We Had Followed So Long. This Gave Us Hope,  As The

Elephants No Longer Had The Advantage Of The Wind,  And We Pushed On As

Fast As We Could Go.

 

It Was About Half An Hour Before Dusk,  And Our Patience And Hopes Were

Alike Exhausted,  When We Suddenly Once More Heard The Wh-R-R-R Of The

Part 3 Chapter 4 Pg 31

Elephants Winding Us Within A Hundred Yards. It Was Our Last Chance,  And

With Redoubled Speed We Rushed After Them.

 

Suddenly We Broke From The High Jungle In Which We Had Been For The Last

Two Hours,  And Found Ourselves In A Chena Jungle Of Two Years' Growth,

About Five Feet High,  But So Thick And Thorny That It Resembled One Vast

Blackthorn Hedge,  Through Which No Man Could Move Except In The Track Of

The Retreating Elephants.

 

To My Delight,  On Entering This Low Jungle,  I Saw The Female At About

Forty Yards' Distance,  Making Off At A Great Pace. I Had A Light

Double-Barrelled Gun In My Hand,  And,  In The Hopes Of Checking Her Pace,

I Fired A Flying Shot At Her Ear. She Had Been Hunted So Long That She

Was Well Inclined To Fight,  And She Immediately Slackened Her Speed So

Much That In A Few Instants I Was At Her Tail,  So Close That I Could

Have Slapped Her. Still She Ploughed Her Way Through The Thick Thorns,

And Not Being Able To Pass Her Owing To The Barrier Of Jungle,  I Could

Only Follow Close At Her Heels And Take My Chance Of A Shot. At Length,

Losing All Patience,  I Fired My Remaining Barrel Under Her Tail,  Giving

It An Upward Direction In The Hope Of Disabling Her Spine.

 

A Cloud Of Smoke Hung Over Me For A Second,  And,  Throwing My Empty Gun

On One Side,  I Put My Hand Behind Me For A Spare Rifle. I Felt The

Welcome Barrel Pushed Into My Hand At The Same Moment That I Saw The

Infuriated Head Of The Elephant With Ears Cocked Charging Through The

Smoke! It Was The Work Of An Instant. I Had Just Time To Cock The

Two-Ounce Rifle And Take A Steady Aim. The Next Moment We Were In A

Cloud Of Smoke,  But As I Fired,  I Felt Certain Of Her. The Smoke Cleared

From The Thick Bushes,  And She Lay Dead At Six Feet From The Spot Where

I Stood. The Ball Was In The Centre Of Her Forehead,  And B.,  Who Had

Fired Over My Shoulder So Instantaneously With Me That I Was Not Aware

Of It,  Had Placed His Ball Within Three Inches Of Mine. Had She Been

Missed,  I Should Have Fired My Last Shot.

 

This Had Been A Glorious Hunt; Many Miles Had Been Gone Over,  But By

Great Luck,  When The Wind Dropped And The Elephant Altered Her Course,

She Had Been Making A Circuit For The Very Field Of Korrakan At Which We

Had First Found Her. We Were Thus Not More Than Three Miles From Our

Resting-Place,  And The Trackers Who Know Every Inch Of The Country,  Soon

Brought Us To The Main Road.

 

The Poonchy And The Bull Elephant,  Having Both Separated From The

Female,  Escaped.

 

One Great Cause Of Danger In Shooting In Thick