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

The Three Elephants,  While I Parted Company And

Ran Towards The Other Section Of The Herd,  Who Were Standing On Some

Rising Ground,  And Were Making A Great Roaring.

 

On Arriving Within A Hundred Yards Of Them,  I Found I Had Caught A

'Tartar'. It Is A Very Different Thing Creeping Up To An Unsuspecting

Herd And Attacking Them By Surprise,  To Marching Up Upon Sheer Open

Ground To A Hunted One With Wounded Elephants Among Them,  Who Have

Regularly Stood At Bay. This Was Now The Case. The Ground Was Perfectly

Open,  And The Lemon Grass Was Above My Head: Thus I Could Only See The

Exact Position Of The Elephants Every Now And Then,  By Standing Upon The

Numerous Little Rocks That Were Scattered Here And There. The Elephants

Were Standing Upon Some Rising Ground,  From Which They Watched Every

Movement As I Approached. They Continued To Growl Without A Moment's

Intermission,  Being Enraged Not Only From The Noise Of The Firing,  But

On Account Of Two Calves Which They Had With Them,  And Which I Could Not

See In The High Grass. There Was A Gentle Rise In The Ground Within

Thirty Paces Of The Spot Upon Which They Stood; And To This Place I

Directed My Steps With Great Care,  Hiding In The High Grass As I Crept

Towards Them.

 

During The Whole Of This Time,  Guns Were Firing Without Intermission In

The Direction Taken By Palliser And Wortley,  Thus Keeping My Game

Terribly On The Qui Vive. What They Were Firing So Many Shots At,  I

Could Not Conceive.

 

At Length I Reached The Rising Ground. The Moment That I Was Discovered

By Them,  The Two Largest Elephants Came Towards Me,  With Their Ears

Cocked And Their Trunks Raised.

 

I Waited For A Second Or Two Till They Lowered Their Trunks,  Which They

Presently Did; And Taking A Steady Shot With One Of My Doubled-Barrelled

No. 10 Rifles,  I Floored Them Both By A Right And Left. One,  However,

Immediately Recovered,  And,  With The Blood Streaming From His Forehead,

He Turned And Retreated With The Remainder Of The Herd At Great Speed

Through The High Grass.

 

The Chase Required Great Caution. However,  They Fortunately Took To A

Part Of The Country Where The Grass Was Not Higher Than My Shoulders,

And I Could Thus See Well Over It. Through This,  I Managed To Keep

Within Fifty Yards Of The Herd,  And I Carried The Heavy Four-Ounce

Rifle,  Which I Knew Would Give One Of Them A Benefit If He Turned To

Charge.

 

I Was Following The Herd At This Distance When They Suddenly Halted,  And

The Wounded Elephant Turned Quickly Round,  And Charged With A Right Good

Intention. He Carried His Head Thrown Back In Such A Position That I

Could Not Get A Fair Shot,  But,  Nevertheless,  The Four-Ounce Ball

Stopped Him,  And Away He Went Again With The Herd At Full Speed,  The

Blood Gushing In Streams From The Wound In His Head.

 

My Four-Ounce Is A Splendid Rifle For Loading Quickly,  It Being So Thick

In The Metal That The Deep Groove Catches The Belt Of The Ball

Immediately. I Was Loaded In A Few Seconds,  And Again Set Off In

Pursuit; I Saw The Herd At About 200 Yards Distant; They Had Halted,  And

They Had Again Faced About.

 

I Had No Sooner Approached Within Sixty Paces Of Them,  Than The Wounded

Elephant Gave A Trumpet,  And Again Rushed Forward Out Of The Herd. His

Head Was So Covered With Blood,  And Was Still Thrown Back In Such A

Peculiar Position,  That I Could Not Get A Shot At The Exact Mark. Again

The Four-Ounce Crashed Through His Skull,  And,  Staggered With The Blow,

He Once More Turned And Retreated With The Herd.

 

Loading Quickly,  I Poured The Powder Down Ad Libitun,  And Ran After The

Herd,  Who Had Made A Circuit To Arrive In The Same Forest In Which We

Had First Found Them. A Sharp Run Brought Me Up To Them; But Upon Seeing

Me They Immediately Stopped,  And,  Without A Moment's Pause,  Round Came

My Old Antagonist Again,  Straight At Me,  With His Head Still Raised In

The Same Knowing Position. The Charge Of Powder Was So Great That It

Went Off Like A Young Fieldpiece,  And The Elephant Fell Upon His Knees;

But,  Again Recovering Himself,  He Turned And Went Off At Such A Pace

That He Left The Herd Behind,  And In A Few Minutes I Was Within Twenty

Yards Of Them; I Would Not Fire,  As I Was Determined To Bag My Wounded

Bird Before I Fired A Single Shot At Another.

 

They Now Reached The Forest,  But,  Instead Of Retreating,  The Wounded

Elephant Turned Short Round Upon The Very Edge Of The Jungle And Faced

Me; The Remaining Portion Of The Herd (Consisting Of Two Large Elephants

And Two Calves) Had Passed On Into The Cover.

 

This Was Certainly A Plucky Elephant; His Whole Face Was A Mass Of

Blood,  And He Stood At The Very Spot Where The Herd Had Passed Into The

Forest,  As Though He Was Determined To Guard The Entrance. I Was Now

About Twenty-Five Yards From Him,  When,  Gathering Himself Together For A

Decisive Charge,  He Once More Came On.

 

I Was On The Point Of Pulling The Trigger,  When He Reeled,  And Fell

Without A Shot,  From Sheer Exhaustion; But Recovering Himself

Immediately,  He Again Faced Me,  But Did Not Move. This Was A Fatal

Pause. He Forgot The Secret Of Throwing His Head Back,  And He Now Held

It In The Natural Position,  Offering A Splendid Shot At About Twenty

Yards. Once More The Four-Ounce Buried Itself In His Skull,  And He Fell

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 118

Dead.

 

Palliser And Wortley Came Up Just As I Was Endeavouring To Track Up The

Herd,  Which I Had Now Lost Sight Of In The Forest. Following Upon Their

Tracks,  We Soon Came In View Of Them. Away We Went As Fast As We Could

Run Towards Them,  But I Struck My Shin Against A Fallen Tree,  Which Cut

Me To The Bone,  And Pitched Me Upon My Head. The Next Moment,  However,

We Were Up With The Elephants: They Were Standing Upon A Slope Of Rock

Facing Us,  But Regularly Dumbfounded At Their Unremitting Pursuit; They

All Rolled Over To A Volley As We Came Up,  Two Of Them Being Calves.

Palliser Killed The Two Biggest Right And Left,  He Being Some Paces In

Advance.

 

This Was One Of The Best Hunts That I Have Ever Shared In. The Chase Had

Lasted For Nearly An Hour. There Had Been Thirteen Elephants Originally

In The Herd,  Every One Of Which Had Been Bagged By Fair Running. Wortley

Had Fired Uncommonly Well,  As He Had Killed The Three Elephants Which He

And Palliser Had Chased,  One Of Which Had Given Them A Splendid Run And

Had Proved Restive. The Elephant Took Fifteen Shots Before She Fell,  And

This Accounted For The Continual Firing Which I Had Heard During My

Chase Of The Other Section. We Had Killed Fourteen Elephants During The

Day,  And We Returned To The 'Amblam',  Having Had As Fine Sport As Ceylon

Can Afford.

 

December 7.--This,  Being Sunday,  Was Passed In Quiet; But A General

Cleaning Of Guns Took Place,  To Be Ready For The Morrow.

 

Dec. 8.--We Went Over Many Miles Of Ground Without Seeing A Fresh

Track. We Had Evidently Disturbed The Country On This Side Of The River,

And We Returned Towards The 'Amblam',  Determined To Cross The River

After Breakfast And Try The Opposite Side.

 

When Within A Mile Of The 'Amblam' We Heard Deer Barking,  And,  Leaving

All Our Gun-Bearers And People Behind,  We Carefully Stalked To The Spot.

The Ground Was Very Favourable,  And,  Having The Wind,  We Reached An

Excellent Position Among Some Trees Within Sixty Yards Of The Herd Of

Deer,  Who Were Standing In A Little Glade. Wortley And I Each Killed A

Buck; Palliser Wounded A Doe,  Which We Tracked For A Great Distance By

The Blood,  But At Length Lost Altogether.

 

After Breakfast We Crossed The Large River Which Flows Near The

'Amblam',  And Then Entered A Part Of The 'Park' That We Had Not Yet

Beaten.

 

Keeping To Our Left,  We Entered A Fine Forest,  And Skirted The Base Of A

Range Of Rocky Mountains. In This Forest We Saw Deer And Wild Buffalo,

But We Would Not Fire A Shot,  As We Had Just Discovered The Fresh Track

Of A Rogue Elephant. We Were Following Upon This,  When We Heard A Bear

In Some Thick Jungle. We Tried To Circumvent Him,  But In Vain; Bruin Was

Too Quick For Us,  And We Did Not Get A Sight Of Him.

 

We Were Walking Quietly Along The Dry Bed Of A Little Brook Bordered By

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 119

Thick Jungle Upon Either Side,  When We Were Suddenly Roused By A

Tremendous Crash Through The Jungle,  Which Was Evidently Coming Straight

Upon Us.

 

We Were In A Most Unfavourable Position,  But There Was No Time For Any

Farther Arrangement Than Bringing The Rifle On Full Cock,  Before Six

Elephants,  Including The 'Rogue' Whose Tracks We Were Following,  Burst

Through The Jungle Straight At Us.

 

Banda Was Nearly Run Over,  But With Wonderful Agility He Ran Up Some

Tangled Creepers Hanging From The Trees,  Just As A Spider Would Climb

His Web. He Was Just In Time,  As The Back Of One Of The Elephants Grazed

His Feet As It Passed Below Him.

 

In The Meantime The Guns Were Not Idle. Wortley Fired At The Leading

Elephant,  Which Had Passed Under Banda's Feet,  Just As He Was Crossing

The Brook On Our Left. His Shot Did Not Produce Any Effect,  But I Killed

Him By A Temple-Shot As He Was Passing On. Palliser,  Who Was On Our

Right,  Killed Two,  And Knocked Down A Third,  Who Was About Half-Grown.

This Fellow Got Up Again,  And Wortley And Palliser,  Both Firing At The

Same Moment,  Extinguished Him.

 

The Herd Had Got Themselves Into A Mess By Rushing Down Upon Our Scent

In This Heedless Manner,  As Four Of Them Lay Dead Within A Few Paces Of

Each Other. The 'Rogue',  Who Knew How To Take Care Of Himself,  Escaped

With Only One Companion. Upon These Tracks We Now Followed Without Loss

Of Time.

 

An Hour Was Thus Occupied. We Tracked Them Through Many Glades And

Jungles,  Till We At Length Discovered In A Thick Chenar The Fresh Tracks

Of Another Herd,  Which The 'Rogue' And His Companion Had Evidently

Joined,  As His Immense Footprint Was Very Conspicuous Among The Numerous

Marks Of The Troop. Passing Cautiously Through A Thick Jungle,  We At

Length Emerged Upon An Extensive Tract Of High Lemon Grass. There Was A

Small Pool Of Water Close To The Edge Of The Jungle,  Which Was

Surrounded With The Fresh Dung Of Elephants,  And The Muddy Surface Was

Still Agitated By The Recent Visit Of Some Of These Thirsty Giants.

 

Carefully Ascending Some Slightly Rising Ground,  And Keeping Close To

The Edge Of The Jungle,  We Peered Over The High Grass.

 

We Were In The Centre Of The Herd,  Who Were Much Scattered. It Was Very

Late,  Being Nearly Dusk,  But We Counted Six Elephants Here And There In

The High Grass Within Sixty Paces Of Us,  While The Rustling