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

About Three Miles In Length,  But Is Not More Than A Mile In

Width In Its Widest Part,  And In Some Places Is Very Much Less. The

Opposite Side Of The Tank Is Fine Open Forest,  Which Grows To The

Water's Edge,  And Is In Some Parts Flooded During The Wet Season. At

This Time The Soil Was Deep And Muddy.

 

This Was Not A Place Visited By Sportsmen At That Period; And Upon

Arriving At The Margin Of The Lake,  An Exciting View Presented Itself.

Scattered Over The Extent Of The Lake Were `Thirteen Rogue Elephants;'

One Was Not A Quarter Of A Mile From Us; Another Was So Far Off He Could

Hardly Be Distinguished; Another Was Close To The Opposite Jungle; And

They Were,  In Fact,  All Single Elephants. There Was An Exception To

This,  However,  In One Pair,  Who Stood In The Very Centre Of The Tank,

Side By Side; They Were As Black As Ebony,  And Although In View With

Many Brother Rogues,  They Appeared Giants Even Among Giants. The Moormen

Immediately Informed Us That They Were A Notorious Pair,  Who Always

Associated Together,  And Were The Dread Of The Neighbourhood. There Were

Many Tales Of Their Ferocity And Daring,  Which At The Time We Gave

Little Heed To.

 

Crossing The Tank In A Large Canoe,  We Arrived In The Open Forest Upon

The Opposite Shore. It Was A Mass Of Elephant Tracks; Which Sank Deep In

The Soft Earth. They Were All So Fresh And Confused That Tracking Was

Very Difficult. However,  We At Length Fixed Upon The Tracks Of A Pair Of

Elephants,  And Followed Them Up. This Was A Work Of Considerable Time,

But The Distant Cracking Of A Bough At Length Attracted Us To Their

Position,  And We Shortly Came Up With Them,  Just As They Had Winded Us

And Were Moving Off. I Fired An Ineffectual Shot At The Temple Of One,

Which Separated Him From The Other,  After Whom We Started In Chase At

Full Speed. Full Speed Soon Ended In A Stand-Still In Such Ground; It

Was Deep,  Stiff Clay,  In Which We Sank Over Our Ankles At Every Step,

And Varied Our Struggles By Occasionally Flying Sprawling Over The

Slippery Roots Of The Trees.

 

The Elephants Ran Clean Away From Us,  And The Elephant-Catchers,  Who

Knew Nothing Of The Rules For Carrying Spare Guns,  Entering Into The

Excitement Of The Chase,  And Free From The Impediments Of Shoes,  Ran

Lightly Along The Muddy Ground,  And Were Soon Out Of Sight As Well As

The Elephants. Still We Struggled On,  When,  Presently We Heard A Shout

And Then A Shot; Then Another Shout; Then The Trumpet Of An Elephant.

Shot After Shot Then Followed With A Chorus Of Shouts; They Were

Actually Firing All Our Spare Guns!

 

In A Few Moments We Were Up With Them. In A Beautifully Open Piece Of

Forest,  Upon Good Hard Ground,  These Fellows Were Having A Regular

Battle With The Rogue. He Was Charging Them With The Greatest Fury,  But

He No Sooner Selected One Man For His Object Than These Active Fellows

Diverted His Rage By Firing Into His Hind-Quarters And Yelling At Him.

At This He Would Immediately Turn And Charge Another Man,  When He Would

Again Be Assailed As Before. When We Arrived He Immediately Selected B.,

And Came Straight At Him,  But Offered A Beautiful Shot In Doing So,  And

B. Dropped Him Dead.

 

The Firing Had Disturbed A Herd Of Elephants From The Forest,  And They

Had Swum The Large River In The Neighbourhood,  Which Was At That Time So

Swollen That We Could Not Cross It. We,  Therefore,  Struck Off To The

Edge Of The Forest,  Where The Waters Of The Lake Washed The Roots Of The

Trees,  And From This Point We Had A Fine View Of The Greater Portion.

 

All The Rogues That We Had At First Counted Had Retired To Their Several

Entrances In The Forest,  Except The Pair Of Desperadoes Already

Mentioned--They Knew No Fear,  And Had Not Heeded The Shots Fired. They

Were Tempting Baits,  And We Determined To Get Them If Possible. These

Two Elephants Were Standing Belly-Deep In The Water,  About A Quarter Of

A Mile From The Shore; And The Question Was,  `How Were We To Get Near

Them?' Having Observed That The Other Rogues Had Retreated To The Forest

Part 3 Chapter 5 Pg 37

At The Noise Of The Firing,  It Struck Me That We Might By Some Ruse

Induce These Two Champions To Follow Their Example,  And,  By Meeting Them

On Their Entrance,  We Might Bring Them To Action.

 

Not Far Upon Our Left,  A Long Shallow Bank,  Covered With Reeds,

Stretched Into The Tank. By Wading Knee-Deep Along This Shoal,  A Man

Might Approach To Within 200 Paces Of The Elephants And Would Be Nearly

Abreast Of Them. I,  Therefore,  Gave A Man A Gun,  And Instructed Him To

Advance To The Extreme End Of The Shallows,  Taking Care To Conceal

Himself In The Rushes,  And When At The Nearest Point He Was To Fire At

The Elephants. This,  I Hoped,  Would Drive Them To The Jungle,  Where We

Should Endeavour To Meet Them.

 

The Moorman Entrusted Upon This Mission Was A Plucky Fellow,  And He

Started Off,  Taking A Double Gun And A Few Charges Of Powder And Ball.

The Elephant-Catchers Were Delighted With The Idea,  And We Patiently

Awaited The Result. About A Quarter Of An Hour Passed Away,  When We

Suddenly Saw A Puff Of White Smoke Spring From The Green Rushes At The

Point Of The Sandbank. A Few Moments After,  We Heard The Report Of The

Gun,  And We Saw The Ball Splash In The Water Close To The Elephants.

They Immediately Cocked Their Ears,  And,  Throwing Their Trunks High In

The Air,  They Endeavoured To Wind The Enemy; But They Did Not Move,  And

They Shortly Again Commenced Feeding Upon The Water-Lilies. Another Shot

From The Same Place Once More Disturbed Them,  And,  While They Winded The

Unseen Enemy,  Two More Shots In Quick Succession From The Old Quarter

Decided Their Opinion,  And They Stalked Proudly Through The Water

Towards The Shore.

 

Our Satisfaction Was Great,  But The Delight Of The Elephant-Catchers

Knew No Bounds. Away They,  Started Along The Shores Of The Lake,  Hopping

From Root To Root,  Skipping Through The Mud,  Which Was More Than A Foot

Deep,  Their Light Forms Hardly Sinking In The Tough Surface. A

Nine-Stone Man Certainly Has An Advantage Over One Of Twelve In This

Ground; Added To This,  I Was Carrying The Long Two-Ounce Rifle Of

Sixteen Pounds,  Which,  With Ammunition,  &C.,  Made Up About Thirteen And

A Half Stone,  In Deep Stiff Clay. I Was Literally Half-Way Up The Calf

Of My Leg In Mud At Every Step,  While These Light,  Naked Fellows Tripped

Like Snipe Over The Sodden Ground. Vainly I Called Upon Them To Go

Easily; Their Moment Of Excitement Was At Its Full Pitch,  And They Were

Soon Out Of Sight Among The Trees And Underwood,  Taking All The Spare

Guns,  Except The Four-Ounce Rifle,  Which,  Weighing Twenty-One Pounds,

Effectually Prevented The Bearer From Leaving Us Behind,

 

What Added Materially To The Annoyance Of Losing The Spare Guns Was The

Thoughtless Character Of The Advance. I Felt Sure That These Fellows

Would Outrun The Position Of The Elephants,  Which,  If They Had Continued

In A Direct Route,  Should Have Entered The Jungle Within 300 Yards Of

Our First Station.

 

We Had Slipped,  And Plunged,  And Struggled Over This Distance,  When We

Suddenly Were Checked In Our Advance. We Had Entered A Small Plot Of

Deep Mud And Rank Grass,  Surrounded Upon All Sides By Dense Rattan

Jungle. This Stuff Is One Woven Mass Of Hooked Thorns: Long Tendrils,

Armed In The Same Manner,  Although Not Thicker Than A Whip-Cord,  Wind

Themselves Round The Parent Canes And Form A Jungle Which Even Elephants

Dislike To Enter. To Man,  These Jungles Are Perfectly Impervious.

 

Half-Way To Our Knees In Mud,  We Stood In This Small Open Space Of About

Thirty Feet By Twenty. Around Us Was An Opaque Screen Of Impenetrable

Jungle; The Lake Lay About Fifty Yards Upon Our Left,  Behind The Thick

Rattan. The Gun-Bearers Were Gone Ahead Somewhere,  And Were Far In

Advance. We Were At A Stand-Still. Leaning Upon My Long Rifle,  I Stood

Within Four Feet Of The Wall Of Jungle Which Divided Us From The Lake. I

Said To B.,  'The Trackers Are All Wrong,  And Have Gone Too Far. I Am

Convinced That The Elephants Must Have Entered Somewhere Near This

Place.'

 

Little Did I Think That At That Very Moment They Were Within A Few Feet

Of Us. B. Was Standing Behind Me On The Opposite Side Of The Small Open,

Or About Seven Yards From The Jungle.

 

I Suddenly Heard A Deep Guttural Sound In The Thick Rattan Within Four

Feet Of Me; In The Same Instant The Whole Tangled Fabric Bent Forward,

And Bursting Asunder,  Showed The Furious Head Of An Elephant With

Uplifted Trunk In Full Charge Upon Me!

 

I Had Barely Time To Cock My Rifle,  And The Barrel Almost Touched Him As

I Fired. I Knew It Was In Vain,  As His Trunk Was Raised. B. Fired His

Right-Hand Barrel At The Same Moment Without Effect From The Same Cause.

I Jumped On One Side And Attempted To Spring Through The Deep Mud: It

Was Of No Use,  The Long Grass Entangled My Feet,  And In Another Instant

I Lay Sprawling In The Enraged Elephant's Path Within A Foot Of Him. In

That Moment Of Suspense I Expected To Hear The Crack Of My Own Bones As

His Massive Foot Would Be Upon Me. It Was An Atom Of Time. I Heard The

Crack Of A Gun; It Was B.'S Last Barrel. I Felt A Spongy Weight Strike

My Heel,  And,  Turning Quickly Heels Over Head,  I Rolled A Few Paces And

Regained My Feet. That Last Shot Had Floored Him Just As He Was Upon Me;

The End Of His Trunk Had Fallen Upon My Heel. Still He Was Not Dead,  But

He Struck At Me With His Trunk As I Passed Round His Head To Give Him A

Finisher With The Four-Ounce Rifle,  Which I Had Snatched From Our

Solitary Gun-Bearer.

 

My Back Was Touching The Jungle From Which The Rogue Had Just Charged,

And I Was Almost In The Act Of Firing Through The Temple Of The Still

Struggling Elephant,  When I Heard A Tremendous Crash In The Jungle

Behind Me Similar To The First,  And The Savage Scream Of An Elephant. I

Saw The Ponderous Foreleg Cleave Its Way Through The Jungle Directly

Upon Me. I Threw My Whole Weight Back Against The Thick Rattans To Avoid

Him,  And The Next Moment His Foot Was Planted Within An Inch Of Mine.

His Lofty Head Was Passing Over Me In Full Charge At B.,  Who Was

Unloaded,  When,  Holding The Four-Ounce Rifle Perpendicularly,  I Fired

Part 3 Chapter 5 Pg 38

Exactly Under His Throat. I Thought He Would Fall And Crush Me,  But This

Shot Was The Only Chance,  As B. Was Perfectly Helpless.

 

A Dense Cloud Of Smoke From The Heavy Charge Of Powder For The Moment

Obscured Everything. I Had Jumped Out Of The Way The Instant After

Firing. The Elephant Did Not Fall,  But He