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

Part 3 Chapter 10 Pg 82

Season That The Dogs Had No Chance,  And I Was Therefore Compelled To

Pick Out Some Spot Which Was Free From This Grass,  And Employ Beaters To

Drive The Jungles,  Instead Of Stalking The Deer In The Usual Manner. I

Tracked A Herd Of Deer Into A Large Detached Piece Of Cover,  And,

Sending The Beaters Round To The Opposite Side,  I Posted Myself With The

Greyhounds In The Slips Behind A Clump Of Trees,  Upon A Small Plain Of

Low,  Soft Grass.

 

The Noise Of The Beaters Approached Nearer And Nearer,  And Presently Two

Splendid Bucks With Beautiful Antlers Rushed From The Jungle About Two

Hundred Yards From Me,  And Scudded Over The Plain. I Slipped The

Greyhounds,  And Away They Went In Full Fly,  Bounding Over The Soft Turf

In Grand Style.

 

Mounting Old Jack,  Who Was Standing At My Elbow,  And Giving Him The

Spur,  I Rode After Them. It Was A Splendid Course; The Two Bucks

Separated,  Bran And Lena Taking After One,  And Killbuck Following The

Other In His Usual Dashing Manner. Away They Went With Wonderful Speed,

The Bucks Constantly Doubling To Throw The Dogs Out; But Killbuck Never

Overshot His Game,  And As The Buck Doubled,  He Was Round After Him In

Fine Style. I Now Followed Him,  Leaving Bran And Lena To Do Their Best,

And At A Killing Pace We Crossed The Plain--Through A Narrow Belt Of

Trees,  Down A Stony Hollow,  Over Another Plain,  Through A Small Jungle,

On Entering Which Killbuck Was Within A Few Yards Of The Buck's

Haunches.

 

Now,  Old Jack Is As Fond Of The Sport As I Am,  And He Kept Up The Chase

In Good Style; But Just As We Were Flying Through Some High Lemon Grass,

A Fallen Tree,  Which Was Concealed Beneath,  Tripped Up The Horse's Fore

Legs,  And In An Instant He Was On His Nose,  Turning A Complete

Somersault. I Was Pitched Some Yards,  And Upon Instinctively Mounting

Again,  The Sparks Were Dancing In My Eyes For Some Seconds Before I

Recovered Myself,  As We Continued The Chase With Unabated Speed.

 

We Pressed Along Up Some Rising Ground,  Having Lost Sight Of The Game;

And As We Reached The Top Of The Hill I Looked Around And Saw The Buck

At Bay About A Hundred Paces From Me,  Upon Fine Level Ground,  Fighting

Face To Face With The Dog,  Who Sprang Boldly At His Head. That Buck Was

A Noble Fellow; He Rushed At The Dog,  And They Met Like Knights In A

Tournament; But It Was Murderous Work; He Received The Reckless Hound

Upon His Sharp Antlers And Bored Him To The Ground. In Another Instant

Killbuck Had Recovered Himself,  And He Again Came In Full Fly At The

Buck's Face With Wonderful Courage; Again The Buck Rushed Forward To

Meet Him,  And Once More The Pointed Antlers Pinned The Dog,  And The

Buck,  Following Up His Charge,  Rolled Him Over And Over For Some Yards.

 

By This Time I Had Galloped Up,  And I Was Within A Few Feet Of The Buck,

When He Suddenly Sprang Round With The Evident Intention Of Charging The

Horse. In The Same Moment Killbuck Seized The Opportunity,  And The Buck

Plunged Violently Upon The Ground,  With The Staunch Dog Hanging Upon His

Throat. I,  Jumped Off My Horse,  And The Buck Fell Dead By A Thrust With

The Knife Behind The Shoulder.

 

I Now Examined The Dog; He Was Wounded In Several Places,  But As He Bled

But Little,  I Hoped That His Apparent Exhaustion Arose More From The

Fatigue Of The Fight Than From Any Severe Injury.

 

At This Time Bran And Lena Came Up; They Had Lost Their Deer In Some

High Lemon Grass,  But They Also Were Both Wounded By The Buck's Horns. I

Now Put Killbuck And Lena Together In The Slips,  And With The Buck,

Carried Upon Cross-Poles By Six Men,  I Rode Towards The Tent. I Had Not

Proceeded Far When The Man Who Was Leading The Greyhounds Behind My

Horse Suddenly Cried Out,  And On Turning Round I Saw Killbuck Lying On

The Ground. I Was At His Side In A Moment,  And I Released His Neck From

The Slips. It Was Too Late; His Languid Head Fell Heavily Upon The

Earth; He Gave Me One Parting Look,  And After A Few Faint Gasps He Was

Gone.

 

I Could Hardly Believe He Was Dead. Taking Off My Cap,  I Ran To A Little

Stream And Brought Some Water,  Which I Threw In His Face; But His Teeth

Were Set,  His Eyes Were Glazed,  And The Best And Truest Dog That Was

Ever Born Was Dead. Poor Killbuck! He Had Died Like A Hero,  And Though I

Grieved Over Him,  I Could Not Have Wished Him A More Glorious Death.

 

I Was Obliged To Open Him To Discover The Real Injury. I Had Little

Thought That The Knife Which Had So Often Come To His Assistance Was

Destined To So Sad A Task. His Lungs Were Pierced Through By The Deer's

Horns In Two Places,  And He Had Died Of Sudden Suffocation By Internal

Haemorrhage. A Large Hollow Tree Grew Close To The Spot; In This I

Buried Him. The Stag's Antlers Now Hang In The Hall,  A Melancholy But

Glorious Memento Of Poor Killbuck.

 

In A Few Days My Leg Had So Much Improved That I Could Again Use It

Without Much Inconvenience; I Therefore Determined To Pay The Cave A

Visit,  As I Felt Convinced That Elephants Would Be More Numerous In That

Neighbourhood. We Started In The Cool Of The Afternoon,  As The Distance

Was Not More Than Eight Miles From Our Encampment. We Had Proceeded

About Half-Way,  And Our Horses Were Picking Their Way With Difficulty

Over Some Rocky Hills,  When We Came Upon Fresh Tracks Of A Herd Of

Elephants. It Was Too Late To Go After Them That Evening; We Therefore

Pitched The Tent Upon The Spot,  Resolving To Track Them Up At Daybreak

On The Following Morning.

 

We Were Accordingly Out Before Sunrise,  And Came Upon The Tracks Within

A Mile Of The Tent. We At Length Discovered The Herd Upon The Summit Of

A Steep Rocky Hill. There Were No Trees In This Part,  And We Carefully

Ascended The Hill,  Stepping From Rock To Rock And Occasionally

Concealing Ourselves In The High Grass,  Till We At Length Stood At The

Very Feet Of The Elephants,  Two Of Whom Were Standing Upon A Large

Platform Of Rock,  About Seven Feet Above Us. They Were So High Above Us

That I Was Obliged To Aim About Four Inches Down The Trunk,  So That The

Ball Should Reach The Brain In An Upward Direction; This Shot Proved

Successful,  And Killed Him. V.,  Who Had Not Taken This Precaution,

Missed; And The Whole Herd Of Eight Elephants Started Off In Full

Retreat.

 

The Rocks Were So Steep That It Occupied Some Time In Climbing Over The

Part 3 Chapter 10 Pg 83

Top Of The Hill; Upon Reaching Which,  We Saw The Elephants Going Off At

Great Speed,  With A Start Of About Two Hundred Paces. The Ground Was

Perfectly Open,  Covered By Small Loose Rocks Free From Grass,  And The

Chase Commenced In Good Earnest. With The Elephants In View The Whole

Time,  And Going At A Great Pace,  A Mile Was Run Without The Possibility

Of Firing A Shot. By This Time We Had Arrived At An Undulating Country

Covered With Small Rocks,  And Grass About Four Feet High,  Which Made The

Pace Dreadfully Fatiguing; Still We Dared Not Slacken The Speed For An

Instant Lest The Elephants Should Distance Us. This Was The Time For

Rifles To Tell,  Although Their Weight (15 Lbs.) Was Rather Trying In So

Long And Fast A Run. I Was Within Eighty Paces Of The Herd,  And I Could

Not Decrease The Distance By A Single Yard. I Halted And Took A Shot At

The Ear Of A Large Elephant In The Middle Of The Herd. The Shot So

Stunned Him That,  Instead Of Going On Straight,  He Kept Turning Round

And Round As Though Running After His Tail; This Threw The Herd Into

Confusion,  And Some Ran To The Right And Others To The Left,  Across Some

Steep Hollows. Running Up To My Wounded Elephant,  I Extinguished Him

With My Remaining Barrel; And Getting A Spare Rifle From Wallace,  Who

Was The Only Gun-Bearer Who Had Kept Up,  I Floored Another Elephant,  Who

Was Ascending The Opposite Side Of A Hollow About Forty Yards Off: This

Fellow Took Two Shots,  And Accordingly I Was Left Unloaded. V. Had Made

Good Play With The Rifles As The Herd Was Crossing The Hollow,  And He

Had Killed Three,  Making Six Bagged In All. The Remaining Two Elephants

Reached A Thick Jungle And Escaped.

 

We Returned To The Tent,  And After A Bath We Sat Down With A Glorious

Appetite To Breakfast,  Having Bagged Six Elephants Before Seven O'clock

A.M.

 

In The Afternoon We Went To The Cave And Sent Out Trackers. We Were Very

Hard Up For Provisions In This Place: There Were No Deer In The

Neighbourhood,  And We Lived Upon Squirrels And Parrots,  Both Of Which

Are Excellent Eating,  But Not Very Substantial Fare.

 

The Whole Of This Part Of The Country Was One Dark Mass Of High Lemon

Grass,  Which,  Not Having Been Burnt,  Was A Tangled Mixture Of Yellow

Stalks And Sharp Blades,  That Completely Destroyed The Pleasure Of

Shooting.

 

In This Unfavourable Ground We Found A Herd Of Ten Elephants,  And After

Waiting For Some Time In The Hope Of Their Feeding Into A Better

Country,  We Lost All Patience And Resolved To Go In At Them And Do The

Best We Could. It Was Late In The Afternoon,  And The Herd,  Who Were Well

Aware Of Our Position,  Had All Closed Up In A Dense Body,  And With Their

Trunks Thrown Up They Were Trumpeting And Screaming As Though To

Challenge Us To The Attack.

 

Pushing Our Way Through The High Grass,  We Got Within Six Paces Of The

Elephants Before They Attempted To Turn,  And The Heavy Battery Opened

Part 3 Chapter 10 Pg 84

Upon Them In Fine Style. Levelling The Grass In Their Path,  They Rushed

Through It In A Headlong Retreat,  V. Keeping On One Flank,  While I Took

The Other; And A Race Commenced,  Which Continued For About Half A Mile

At Full Speed,  The Greater Part Of This Distance Being Up Hill. None Of

These Elephants Proved Restive; And On Arriving At Thick Jungle Two Only

Entered Out Of The Ten That Had Composed The Herd; The Remaining Eight

Lay Here And There Along The Line Of The Hunt.

 

Out Of Four Herds And Three Rogues Fired At We Had Bagged