第88章

We walked through a lovely country for about five miles, seeing nothing 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 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 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 Idirected 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, Icould 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.