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

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 114

 

In The Mean Time Palliser And Wortley Kept Up A Regular Volley,  But No

Effects Could Be Observed Until The Herd Reached And Began To Ascend The

Steep Bank On The Opposite Side. I Had Reloaded The Four-Ounce,  And The

Heavy Battery Now Began To Open A Concert With The General Volley,  As

The Herd Scrambled Up The Precipitous Bank. Several Elephants Fell,  But

Recovered Themselves And Disappeared. At Length The Volley Ceased,  And

Two Were Seen,  One Dead On The Top Of The Bank,  And The Other Still

Struggling In The Shallow Water At The Foot. Once More A General Battery

Opened; And He Was Extinguished. Five Were Killed; And If Noise And

Smoke Add To The Fun,  There Was Certainly Plenty Of It. Wortley And My

Man Wallace Now Swam Across The River And Cut Off The Elephants' Tails.

 

We Returned To The Horses,  And Moved To The 'Cave,' Meeting With No

Farther Incidents That Day.

 

Dec. 4--We Saw Nothing But Deer The Whole Of The Day,  And They Were So

Wild That We Could Not Get A Shot. It Was Therefore A Blank.

 

Dec. 5--We Started Early,  And For Five Miles We Tracked A Large Herd

Of Elephants Through Fine Open Country,  Until We Were At Length Stopped

By Impenetrable Jungle Of Immense Extent,  Forming The Confines Of The

'Park' On This Side. We Therefore Reluctantly Left The Tracks,  And

Directed Our Course Towards Pattapalaar,  About Twelve Miles Distant.

 

We Had Passed Over A Lovely Country,  And Were Within A Mile Of Our

Proposed Resting-Place,  When Banda,  Who Happened To Be A Hundred Yards

In Advance,  Came Quickly Back,  Saying That He Saw A Rogue Elephant

Feeding On The Patina Not Far From Us. Wortley Had Gone In Another

Direction With Old Medima A Few Minutes Previous To Look For A Deer; And

Palliser And I Resolved To Stalk Him Carefully. We Therefore Left All

The People Behind,  Except Two Gun-Bearers,  Each Of Whom Carried One Of

My Double-Barrelled Rifles. I Carried My Four-Ounce,  And Palliser Took

The Two-Ounce.

 

It Was Most Difficult Ground For Stalking,  Being Entirely Open,  On A

Spot Which Had Been High Lemon Grass But Recently Burnt,  The Long Reeds

In Many Places Still Remaining.

 

We Could Not Get Nearer Than Fifty Yards In Such Ground,  And I

Accordingly Tried A Shot At His Temple With The Four-Ounce. The Long

Unburnt Stalks Of The Lemon Grass Waving To And Fro Before The Sights Of

My Rifle So Bothered Me That I Missed The Fatal Spot,  And Fired About

Two Inches Too High. Stumbling Only For A Moment From The Blow,  He

Rushed Down Hill Towards A Jungle,  But At The Same Instant Palliser Made

A Capital Shot With The Long Two-Ounce And Knocked Him Over. I Never Saw

An Elephant Fall With Such A Crash: They Generally Sink Gently Down; But

This Fellow Was Going At Such Speed Down Hill That He Fairly Pitched

Upon His Head.

 

We Arrived At Our Resting-Place,  And Having Erected The Tents,  We Gave

Them Up To Banda And The Servants,  While We Took Possession Of A Large

'Amblam',  Or Open Building,  Massively Built By The Late Major Rodgers,

Which Is About Twenty-Five Feet Square. This We Arranged In A Most

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 115

Comfortable Manner,  And Here We Determined To Remain For Some Days,

While We Beat The Whole Country Thoroughly.

 

Dec. 6.-We Started At Our Usual Early Hour With Banda And The

Trackers,  And After A Walk Of About A Mile,  We Found Fresh Tracks And

Followed Up. Crossing A Small River Upon The Track,  We Entered A Fine

Open Forest,  Through Which The Herd Had Only Just Passed,  And Upon

Following Them For About A Quarter Of A Mile,  We Came To A Barrier Of

Dense Chenar Jungle,  Into Which The Elephants Had Retreated.

 

There Was A Rogue With This Herd,  And We Were Rather Doubtful Of His

Position. We Stood In The Open Forest,  Within A Few Feet Of The Thick

Jungle,  To The Edge Of Which The Elephants Were So Close That We Could

Hear Their Deep Breathing; And By Stooping Down We Could Distinguish The

Tips Of Their Trunks And Feet,  Although The Animals Themselves Were

Invisible. We Waited About Half An Hour In The Hope That Some Of The

Elephants Might Again Enter The Open Forest; At Length Two,  Neither Of

Whom Were Above Five Feet High,  Came Out And Faced Us. My Dress Of

Elastic Green Tights Had Become So Browned By Constant Washing And

Exposure,  That I Matched Exactly With The Stem Of A Tree Against Which I

Was Leaning,  And One Of The Elephants Kept Advancing Towards Me Until I

Could Nearly Touch Him With My Rifle; Still He Did Not See Me,  And I Did

Not Wish To Fire,  As I Should Alarm The Herd,  Which Would Then Be Lost

For Ever. Unfortunately,  Just At This Moment,  The Other Elephant Saw

Palliser,  And The Alarm Was Given. There Was No Help For It,  And We Were

Obliged To Fire. Mine Fell Dead,  But The Other Fell,  And,  Recovering

Himself Immediately,  He Escaped In The Thick Jungle.

 

This Was Bad Luck,  And We Returned Towards The 'Amblam' To Breakfast. On

Our Way There We Found That The 'Rogue' Had Concealed Himself In A Piece

Of Thick Jungle,  Backed By Hills Of Very High Lemon Grass. From This

Stronghold We Tried To Drive Him,  And Posted Ourselves In A Fine

Position To Receive Him Should He Break Cover; But He Was Too Cunning To

Come Out,  And The Beaters Were Too Knowing To Go In To Drive Such Bad

Jungle; It Was,  Therefore,  A Drawn Game,  And We Were Obliged To Leave

Him.

 

When Within A Short Distance Of The 'Amblam',  A Fine Black Partridge Got

Up At About Sixty Yards. I Was Lucky Enough To Knock Him Over With A

Rifle,  And Still More Fortunate In Not Injuring Him Much With The Ball,

Which Took His Wing Off Close To His Body. Half An Hour Afterwards He

Formed Part Of Our Breakfast.

 

During Our Meal A Heavy Shower Of Rain Came Down,  And Continued For

About Two Hours.

 

In The Afternoon We Sallied Out,  Determined To Shoot At Any Large Game

That We Might Meet. We Had Lately Confined Our Sport To Elephants,  As We

Did Not Wish To Disturb The Country By Shooting At Other Game; But

Having Fired In This Neighbourhood During The Morning,  We Were Not Very

Particular.

 

We Walked Through A Lovely Country For About Five Miles,  Seeing Nothing

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 116

Whatever In The Shape Of Game,  Not Even A Track,  As All The Old Marks

Were Washed Out By The Recent Shower. At Length We Heard The Barking Of

Deer In The Distance,  And,  Upon Going In That Direction,  We Saw A Fine

Herd Of About Thirty. They Were Standing In A Beautiful Meadow Of About

A Hundred Acres In Extent,  Perfectly Level,  And Interspersed With Trees,

Giving It The Appearance Of An Immense Orchard Rather Thinly Planted.

One Side Of This Plain Was Bounded By A Rocky Mountain,  Which Rose

Precipitously From Its Base,  The Whole Of Which Was Covered With Fine

Open Forest.

 

We Were Just Stalking Towards The Deer When We Came Upon A Herd Of Wild

Buffaloes In A Small Hollow,  Within A Close Shot.

 

Palliser Wanted A Pair Of Horns,  And He Was Just Preparing For A Shot,

When We Suddenly Heard The Trumpet Of An Elephant In The Forest At The

Foot Of The Rocky Mountains Close To Us.

 

Elephants,  Buffaloes,  And Deer Were All Within A Hundred Yards Of Each

Other: We Almost Expected To See Noah's Ark On The Top Of The Hill.

 

Of Course The Elephants Claimed Our Immediate Attention. It Was

Palliser's Turn To Lead The Way; And Upon Entering The Forest At The

Foot Of The Mountain,  We Found That The Elephants Were Close To Us. The

Forest Was A Perfect Place For Elephant-Shooting. Large Rocks Were

Scattered Here And There Among The Fine Trees,  Free From Underwood;

These Rocks Formed Alleys Of Various Widths,  And Upon Such Ground An

Elephant Had No Chance.

 

There Was A Large Rock The Size Of A Small House Lying Within A Few

Yards From The Entrance Of The Forest. This Rock Was Split In Two

Pieces,  Forming A Passage Of Two Feet Wide,  But Of Several Yards In

Length. As Good Luck Would Have It,  An Elephant Stood Exactly On The

Other Side,  And,  Palliser Leading The Way,  We Advanced Through This

Secure Fort To The Attack.

 

On Arrival At The Extreme End,  Palliser Fired Two Quick Shots,  And,

Taking A Spare Gun,  He Fired A Third,  Before We Could See What Was Going

On,  We Being Behind Him In This Narrow Passage. Upon Passing Through We

Thought The Fun Was Over. He Had Killed Three Elephants,  And No More

Were To Be Seen Anywhere.

 

Hardly Had He Reloaded,  However,  When We Heard A Tremendous Rushing

Through The Forest In The Distance; And,  Upon Quickly Running To The

Spot,  We Came Upon A Whole Herd Of Elephants,  Who Were Coming To Meet Us

In Full Speed. Upon Seeing Us,  However,  They Checked Their Speed For A

Moment,  And Palliser And Wortley Both Fired,  Which Immediately Turned

Them. This Was At Rather Too Long A Distance,  And No Elephants Were

Killed.

 

A Fine Chase Now Commenced Through The Open Forest,  The Herd Rushing Off

Pele Mele. This Pace Soon Took Us Out Of It,  And We Burst Upon An Open

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 117

Plain Of High Lemon Grass. Here I Got A Shot At An Elephant,  Who

Separated From The Main Body,  And I Killed Him.

 

The Pace Was Now So Great That The Herd Fairly Distanced Us In The

Tangled Lemon Grass,  Which,  Though Play To Them,  Was Very Fatiguing To

Us.

 

Upon Reaching The Top Of Some Rising Ground I Noticed Several Elephants,

At About A Quarter Of A Mile Distant Upon My Left In High Grass,  While

The Remaining Portion Of The Herd (Three Elephants) Were About Two

Hundred Yards Ahead,  And Were Stepping Out At Full Speed Straight Before

Us.

 

Wortley Had Now Had Plenty Of Practice,  And Shot His Elephants Well. He

And Palliser Followed