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

To My Left Into

The Open Plain,  And Back Towards The Guns. The Rogue Overshot Me. I Met

My Brother Close To His Tail,  Which Position He Had With Difficulty

Maintained; But He Could Not Get A Shot,  And The Elephant Turned Into

The Jungle,  And Disappeared Just As I Escaped Him By A Sharp Turn. This

Was A Close Shave; Had Not The Ground Been Perfectly Level I Must Have

Been Caught To A Certainty,  And Even As It Was,  He Would Have Had Me In

Another Stride Had I Not Turned From My Straight Course. It Was Nearly

Dark,  And We Returned To The Tent,  Killing Several Peacocks And Ducks On

Our Way,  With Which The Country Swarmed.

 

We Passed A Miserable Night,  Not Being Able To Sleep On Account Of The

Mosquitoes,  Which Were In Swarms. I Was Delighted To See The First Beam

Of Morning,  When Our Little Winged Enemies Left Us,  And A 'Chatty' Bath

Was Most Enjoyable After The Restless Tossings Of A Sleepless Night. The

Moormen Were Out At Dawn To Look For Elephants,  The Guns Were Cleaned,

And I Looked Forward To The Return Of The Trackers With Peculiar

Interest,  As We Had Determined To 'Catch An Elephant.' The Moormen Were

All Full Of Excitement And Preparation. These Men Were Well Practised In

This Sport,  And They Were Soon Busied In Examining And Coiling Their

Hide Ropes For The Purpose.

 

At About Mid-Day The Trackers Returned,  Having Found A Herd About Five

Miles From The Village. We Were All Ready,  And We Set Off Without A

Moment's Delay,  Our Party Consisting Of My Brother,  Myself,  Four

Gun-Bearers,  And About Thirty Moormen,  Each Of Whom Carried A Coil Of

Finely-Twisted Rope Made Of Thongs Of Raw Deer's Hide; These Ropes Were

Each Twenty Yards In Length,  And About An Inch In Diameter.

 

Having Skirted The Borders Of The Tank For About Three Miles,  We Turned

Into The Forest,  And Continued Our Route Through Alternate Open And

Thick Forest,  Until We At Length Reached A Rough,  Open Country,

Interspersed With Low Jungles. Here We Met The Watchers,  Who Reported

The Herd To Be A Few Hundred Paces From Us In Some Patches Of Thick

Jungle. Taking The Wind,  We Carefully Approached Their Position. The

Ground Was Very Rough,  Being A Complete City Of Anthills About Two Feet

High; These Were Overgrown With Grass,  Giving The Open Country An

Appearance Of A Vast Churchyard Of Turf Graves. Among These Tumps Grew

Numerous Small Clusters Of Bushes,  Above Which,  We Shortly Discovered

The Flapping Ears Of The Elephants,  They Were Slowly Feeding Towards The

More Open Ground. It Was A Lovely Afternoon,  The Sky Was Covered With A

Thin Grey Cloud,  And The Sun Had Little Or No Power. Hiding Behind A

Bush,  We Watched The Herd For Some Time,  Until They Had All Quitted The

Bushes And Were Well Out In The Open. There Were Two Elephants Facing

Us,  And The Herd,  Which Consisted Of Seven,  Were Tolerably Close

Together,  With The Exception Of One,  Who Was About Thirty Yards Apart

From The Main Body; This Fellow We Determined To Catch. We Therefore

Arranged That Our Gun-Bearers And Four Rope-Carriers Should Accompany

Us,  While The Remaining Portion Of Our Party Should Lie In Reserve To

Come To Our Assistance When Required,  As So Large A Body Of Men Could

Not Possibly Stalk The Herd Without Being Discovered. Falling Upon Our

Hands And Knees,  We Crept Between The Grassy Ant-Hills Towards The Two

Leading Elephants,  Who Were Facing Us. The Wind Was Pretty Brisk,  And

The Ant-Hills Effectually Concealed Us Till We Were Within Seven Paces

Of Our Game. The Two Leaders Then Both Dropped Dead To The Front Shot,

And The Fun Began. The Guns Were So Well Handed Up,  That We Knocked Over

The Six Elephants Before They Had Given Us A Run Of Twenty Yards,  And We

All Closed Up And Ran Under The Tail Of The Retreating Elephant That We

Had Devoted To The Ropes. He Was Going At About Seven Miles An Hour; We

Therefore Had No Difficulty In Keeping Up With Him,  As We Could Run

Between The Ant-Hills Much Faster Than He Could. The Ropes Were In

Readiness,  And With Great Dexterity,  One Of The Moormen Slipped A Noose

Over One Of His Hind Feet,  As He Raised It From The Ground; And Drawing

It Tight,  He Dropped His Coil. We All Halted,  And Allowed The

Unconscious Elephant To Run Out His Length Of Line; This He Soon Did,

And The Rope Trailed After Him Like A Long Snake,  We All Following At

About The Centre Of The Length Of Rope,  Or Twenty Paces Behind Him. He

Was Making For The Jungle,  Which Was Not Far Distant,  And We Were

Running Him Like A Pack Of Hounds,  But Keeping A Gun In Readiness,  Lest

He Should Turn And Charge. He At Length Reached The Wooded Bank Of A Dry

River,  And Thick Rattan Jungle Bordered The Opposite Side; He Thought He

Was Safe,  And He Plunged Down The Crumbling Bank. We Were A Little Too

Quick For Him,  By Taking A Double Turn Round A Tree With The Slack End

Of The Rope Just As He Descended The Bank; The Effect Of This Was To

Bring Him To A Sudden Standstill,  And The Stretching Of The Hide Rope

Threw Him Upon His Knees. He Recovered Himself Immediately,  And Used

Part 3 Chapter 9 Pg 71

Extraordinary Efforts To Break Away; Tightening The Rope To Its Utmost

Length,  He Suddenly Lifted Up His Tied Leg And Threw His Whole Weight

Forward. Any But A Hide Rope Of That Diameter Must Have Given Way,  But

This Stretched Like A Harp-String,  And At Every Effort To Break It,  The

Yielding Elasticity Of The Hide Threw Him Upon His Head,  And The Sudden

Contraction After The Fall,  Jerked His Leg Back To Its Full Length.

 

After Many Vain,  But Tremendous Efforts To Free Himself,  He Turned His

Rage Upon His Pursuers,  And Charged Everyone Right And Left; But He Was

Safely Tied,  And We Took Some Little Pleasure In Teasing Him. He Had No

More Chance Than A Fly In A Spider's Web. As He Charged In One

Direction,  Several Nooses Were Thrown Round His Hind Legs; Then His

Trunk Was Caught In A Slip-Knot,  Then His Fore Legs,  Then His Neck,  And

The Ends Of All These Ropes Being Brought Together And Hauled Tight,  He

Was Effectually Hobbled.

 

This Had Taken Some Time To Effect (About Half An Hour),  And We Now

Commenced A Species Of Harness To Enable Us To Drive Him To The Village.

 

The First Thing Was To Secure His Trunk By Tying It To One Of His Fore

Legs; This Leg Was Then Fastened With A Slack Rope To One Of His Hind

Legs,  Which Prevented Him From Taking A Longer Stride Than About Two

Feet; His Neck Was Then Tied To His Other Fore Leg,  And Two Ropes Were

Made Fast To Both His Fore And Hind Legs; The Ends Of These Ropes Being

Manned By Thirty Men.

 

Having Completed These Arrangements,  He Was Released From The Ties Which

Hobbled Him,  And We Commenced The Arduous Task Of Driving Him Towards

The Village,  A Distance Of Five Miles. The Only Method Of Getting Him

Along,  Was To Keep Two Men To Tease Him In Front,  By Shouting And Waving

Cloths Before His Face; He Immediately Charged These Fellows,  Who,  Of

Course,  Ran In The Right Direction For The Village,  And By This Repeated

Manoeuvre We Reached The Borders Of The Tank By Nightfall. We Were Still

At Least Two Miles From The Village,  And We Were Therefore Obliged To

Tie Him To A Tree For The Night. The Next Morning We Succeeded In

Driving Him To The Village. He Was A Fine Elephant,  But Not Full Grown,

And For This Reason He Had Been Selected From The Herd For Capture,  As

They Are More Valuable At This Particular Period Of Their Growth,  Being

Easily Rendered Docile. He Was About Sixteen Years Of Age; And By

Starving For Two Days,  And Subsequent Gentle Treatment,  The Natives

Mounted And Rode Him On The Third Day Of His Capture,  Taking The

Precaution,  However,  Of First Securing His Trunk. This Elephant Was Then

Worth Fifteen Pounds To Be Sold To The Arabs For The Indian Market.

 

After A Stay Of A Few Days In This Neighbourhood,  During Which We Had

Good Sport In Elephant-Shooting,  We Returned To The Park Country. The

First Evening Of Our Return,  We Heard Elephants Roaring In The Jungle

Within A Short Distance Of The Tent. At Daybreak The Next Morning We

Were On Their Tracks,  And After A Walk Of Five Miles We Found Them In

Thick Thorny Jungle,  And Only Killed Three. We Had A Long Day's Work,

Part 3 Chapter 9 Pg 72

And We Were Returning Home In The Afternoon When We Suddenly Observed A

Herd Of Deer Grazing In The Beautiful Park. The Headman Of This Part Of

The Country Is A First-Rate Sportsman,  And Has Always Accompanied Me In

Shooting Through This District. This Man,  Whose Name Is Banda,  Is The

Only Cingalese That I Have Ever Seen Who Looks Like A Man Of Good Birth

In His Nation. Strikingly Handsome And Beautifully Proportioned,  With

The Agility Of A Deer,  He Is In All Respects The Beau Ideal Of A Native

Hunter. His Skill In Tracking Is Superb,  And His Thorough Knowledge Of

The Habits Of All Ceylon Animals,  Especially Of Elephants,  Renders Him A

Valuable Ally To A Sportsman. He And I Commenced A Careful Stalk,  And

After A Long Circuit I Succeeded In Getting Within Seventy Paces Of The

Herd Of Deer. The Ground Was Undulating,  And They Were Standing On The

Top Of A Low Ridge Of Hills. I Dropped A Buck With My Two-Ounce Rifle,

And The Herd Immediately Disappeared Behind The Top Of The Hill. Taking

One Of My Double-Barrelled Rifles,  Which Banda Gave Me,  I Ran To The Top

Of The Hill As Fast As I Could,  Just In Time To See The Herd Going At A

Flying Speed Along A Small Valley At A Long Distance. Another Buck Was

Separated From The Herd By About Forty Paces,  And Putting Up The Second

Sight Of My Rifle,  I Took A Shot At Him; To My Delight He Plunged

Heavily Upon The Turf. I Fired My Remaining Barrel At The Herd,  But I

Must Have Missed,  As None Fell. I Immediately Stepped The Distance To

The Dead Buck,  187 Paces. I Had Fired A Little Too High,  And Missed His

Body,  But The Ball Struck Him In The Neck And Had Broken His Spine. A

Successful Flying Shot At This Distance Has A Very Pretty Effect,  And

Banda Was Delighted.

 

There Were Very Few Elephants At This Season At The Park,  And The

Numberless 'Ticks' Which Swarmed In The Grass,  Spoilt All The Pleasure

Of Shooting. These Little Wretches,  Which Are Not Larger Than A Small

Grain Of Gunpowder,  Find Their Way To Every Part Of The Body,  And The

Irritation Of Their Bites Is Indescribable. Scratching,  Is Only Adding

Fuel To Fire; There Is No Certain Prevention Or Relief From Their

Attacks; The Best Thing That I Know Is Cocoa-Nut Oil Rubbed Daily Over

The Whole Body,