SINGHALESE TORCHES--CHEWING ARECA-NUT--THE VEDDAHS--DEVIL-DANCERS--CHENA
CULTIVATIONS--A ROGUE ELEPHANT--EAT SNAKE--MY FIRST ELEPHANT HUNT--
HORRIBLE SITUATION--NEARLY KILLED BY AN ELEPHANT--PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE.
On leaving the scene of the great elephant hunt I described in my last
chapter, we turned our faces once more towards the region of the
northern coffee estates.
Mr Fordyce then told me that he had dispatched a messenger to inquire
whether Mr Coventry was residing on his property, and if not, where he
was to be found. Before we had proceeded far we met the messenger, who
brought word that Mr Coventry, and a young gentleman who was staying
with him, had set off a short time before for Trincomalee, where they
probably now were.
"Then to Trincomalee we will go," exclaimed Mr Fordyce. "We will run
our fox to earth, at all events, provided he does not take to the water
and swim away."
"Then I, however, must follow wherever he goes," I observed. "I feel
sure Alfred is with him; and yet I cannot account for his not having
written home. Oh, how I long to find him, poor fellow!"
I could not help fancying that Mr Fordyce, kind and liberal as he was
to me, did not quite enter into my feelings about finding Alfred.
Perhaps, through my impatience, I did him injustice. I thanked him most
cordially for his kindness; for I felt that, at all events, if left to
my own resources I should have been utterly unable to follow my
grandfather from place to place as I was now doing.
Again we plunged into the gloomy shade of a Ceylon forest. I have
already described the large retinue with which we had to move; and
though we carried a great deal of food, so much was required for so
large a number that we had to depend mainly on our guns for the meat to
put into our pots. Of this, however, neither Nowell nor I complained,
as it gave us the very sort of employment we most enjoyed.
One ordinary day's journey was very much like another. The first
morning we were aroused before sunrise, and on going out of our tents we
found our attendants with torches in their hands ready to accompany us.
These were not only to light us on our way, but to frighten off any
bears, wild boars, or elephants, who might be crossing our path, and
would be ugly customers to meet in a narrow road. These torches are
called _chides_. They are made out of the straight and dry branches of
the "welang tree," which is bruised into loose strips, still, however,
holding together. They last burning for a couple of hours. No scene
could be more picturesque, as our numerous cavalcade wound down a
mountain path, with rocks and woods on either side; some thrown into
shade, and others standing out prominently in the ruddy glare thrown
around by the torches. We rode on till the heat of the sun warned us
that it was time to stop; and while our tents were pitched by the side
of a stream of pure water, which had its source in the neighbouring
mountains, the servants lighted the fires, and commenced active
preparations for breakfast. Rice was boiled, coffee was made, curries
concocted, and game--which had just before been shot--spitted and set to
turn and roast. We meantime enjoyed the luxury of a cool bath within
the shade of our tents. There were no crocodiles in the stream; but in
most places it is dangerous to bathe in the tanks and rivers, which
abound with them, as many are large enough to carry off a man between
their jaws without the slightest difficulty.
By the side of the stream grew numerous tall trees, in many places
completely overarching it. The most remarkable was the kombook, from
the branches of which hung the pods of the large puswel bean. The pods
are the most gigantic I have seen, measuring six feet in length, by five
or six inches in width. From the calcined bark of this tree the natives
extract a sort of lime, with which they mix the betel they are
constantly chewing. The inhabitants of Ceylon have the same enjoyment
in it as Europeans have in chewing tobacco. It is used with the
areca-nut, the product of the graceful areca-palm. They thus take,
unconsciously, as a corrective to their somewhat acid food, a
combination of carminative, antacid, and tonic. Every Singhalese
carries in his waist-cloth a box containing some nuts of the areca and a
few fresh leaves of the betel pepper, as also a smaller box to hold the
chunam or lime. The mode of taking it is to scrape down the nut, and to
roll it up with some lime in a betel leaf. On chewing it, much saliva
is produced of a bright red colour, with which the lips and teeth are
completely stained, giving the mouth a most unpleasant appearance.
While we were seated at breakfast we observed a dark small figure moving
out in the skirts of the forest nearest to us. At first I thought it
was a monkey; and so did Nowell, who was going to fire at it, but Mr
Fordyce happily restrained him.
"Let us see what the creature will do," said he. "I am not at all
certain that it is not a human being."
After looking about cautiously, the figure came out of the shade of the
wood, and then we saw that it was really a human being--a large-headed,
mis-shapen man, with long black hair hanging half-way down his body, the
only clothing he wore being a piece of dirty cloth round his waist. He
looked starved and wretched, so we held out some food to him. He eyed
it wistfully, but seemed to have the same fear of approaching us that a
strange dog would. We observed that our followers looked at him with
expressions both of mistrust and disgust, so I volunteered to go and
take him some food. I put it on a plate, and carried it towards him.
He looked at it without saying a word, and then seized it with both
hands, and ate it up with the greatest avidity. He had evidently been
nearly starving, when the smell of our cooking operations brought him to
our encampment. I signed to him that I would get him some more food,
when he sat himself down on the grass at a short distance only from our
circle, and near enough for Mr Fordyce to speak to him. Our friend
addressed him in a variety of dialects, and at last he answered with
some scarcely articulate sounds. After a short conversation had taken
place, Mr Fordyce said:--
"The man is a remnant of one of the tribes of Veddahs. They are the
most degraded, or rather least civilised of all the people of Ceylon.
They are divided into Rock Veddahs, Village Veddahs, and Coast Veddahs.
This man belongs to the first, who are the most barbarous of all. They
are omnivorous, eating carrion or anything that comes in their way--
roots, or fish, or wild honey, or any animals they can catch; but their
favourite food is monkeys and lizards. They live either in caves and
nooks in rocks, or on platforms among the boughs of trees. They hunt
the deer with bows and arrows, and dry the flesh, which they sometimes
barter for articles for which they have a fancy, such as cocoa-nuts,
arrow-heads, hatchets, cooking bowls, and coloured cloths. Each family
has a head man, who manages domestic affairs, but exercises very little
sway over them; their language is of the most limited description; they
have no religious rites, no knowledge of a superior being or idea of a
future state, and they do not even bury their dead, but cover them up
with leaves in the recesses of the forest. They have no names for
years, days, or hours; they can scarcely count beyond five on their
fingers, and they have no music, games, or amusements of any sort. The
Village Veddahs are a degree superior to them, as they live in huts, and
roughly cultivate the ground. The Coast Veddahs are somewhat less
savage than the first, and employ themselves in fishing and in cutting
timber. They have much gentleness of disposition, and though, as might
be expected, their morals are in the lowest state, grave crimes are
seldom committed. Our government have made most laudable attempts to
reclaim them, and in many instances, seconded by the devoted efforts of
the missionaries, have met with great success. When I said they have no
religious ceremony, I ought to have mentioned that when they are sick,
they fancy that they are affected by an evil spirit, and so they send
for a devil-dancer to drive it away. Something eatable is made as an
offering to the evil spirit, and placed on a tripod of sticks. Before
this the devil-dancer, who has his head and girdle decorated with green
leaves, begins to shuffle his feet by degrees, working himself into the
greatest fury, screaming and moaning, during which time he pretends to
receive instructions how to cure the malady. The Wesleyan missionaries
especially have laboured indefatigably among these wretched beings, and
notwithstanding the low state of barbarism into which they had sunk,
have succeeded in converting many hundreds to a knowledge of the
glorious truths of Christianity, and in bringing them within the pale of
civilisation. They are settled in villages, cultivate the ground, and
have schools among them. One or two stations, in consequence of the
missionaries having been carried off by fever, have been abandoned; but
even there those Veddahs who had come under their influence continued to
build cottages and practise the various arts they had learned. Still,
throughout the length and breadth of Ceylon, there is a wide, and, I
firmly believe, a fruitful field among all castes and tribes for the
labours of the Christian missionary."
Having won the confidence of our Veddah, Mr Fordyce desired him to
light a fire by means of two dried sticks--a difficult operation, in
which they are said to be great adepts. He replied that he would do as
we wished; and breaking one of his arrows in two, he sharpened the end
of one into a point, and making a hole in the other, he held it between
his feet and twirled the first rapidly round between the palms of his
hands. But a few moments had passed before smoke ascended and charcoal
appeared; that quickly ignited; and some leaves and sticks being
applied, a blazing fire was soon made.
Mr Fordyce, after questioning the savage, inquired if more of his
companions were in the neighbourhood. He said yes, and that he could
soon bring them. He disappeared, and we got some food ready. In a
short time he returned, with nearly twenty wretched-looking beings,
their hair and beards hanging in masses down to their waists. Each
carried an iron-headed axe in a girdle, a bow about six feet in length
strung with twisted bark, and a few ill-made arrows with peacocks'
feathers at one end and an iron unbarbed head tapering to a point at the
other. After we had given them the deer's flesh we had prepared, we set
up a mark and told them to shoot at it. They were miserable marksmen,
not one arrow in half-a-dozen hitting the target. They said that all
they required was to wound their game, and then that they ran it down
till it died; that they could kill an elephant by wounding him in the
foot. The shaft breaks short off, when, the wound festering, the poor
brute becomes so lame that they can easily overtake him and eventually
worry him to death.
Travelling on through the forest, we came suddenly on an open space of
three hundred acres or more, with a number of huts in the centre, and
people actively employed in cultivating the ground. The space was
divided into patches, containing paddy or dry rice, grain, Indian corn,
coracan, with sweet potatoes, cassava, onions, yams, chillies, as also
cotton-plants. I was surprised to find that the cultivators had only a
temporary occupation of the ground. It is called chena cultivation.
Pumpkins, sugar-cane, hemp, yams, as well as grains and vegetables, are
grown. A number of families obtain a licence from the government agent
of the district to cultivate a plot of ground in this way for two years,
and no more.
A day or two after this, emerging once more from the forest, we found
ourselves approaching a village of mud-huts, of different sizes--one of
them, built round an open court-yard, had been prepared for our
reception, the rooms having been hung with white cloths by the head
washerman of the place, whose official duty it is to attend to visitors.
The rooms had each but one small window, or hole rather. They all
opened into the court. They kept out the air, but certainly no sun
could get in. Such a building is the usual habitation even of chiefs.
Some have handsome carved furniture, both tables and chairs, and
cabinets, while their wives and daughters are decked in flowing robes
and ornaments of gold and precious stones.
Scarcely had we taken up our quarters in our new abode, when the head
man of the place and some of the chief villagers came in due form to pay
their respects to Mr Fordyce. They said that they understood that he
was accompanied by some renowned sportsmen, to whom they could offer a
magnificent opportunity of displaying their prowess. We pricked up our
ears as Mr Fordyce translated this. The neighbourhood was infested by
a huge rogue elephant, whom none of these people could succeed in
killing. He was not the only one, as many other rogues frequented the
tank where he was usually seen, but he was by far the most mischievous.
He would walk into fields at night and eat up the corn, and even into
gardens and consume the vegetables; several times he had pulled down
huts to get at corn stored within them, and once he had upset a cottage
and very nearly destroyed the inhabitants. He had besides killed
several people--some of whom he had met by chance, and others who had
gone out to kill him.
Nowell was not at all daunted by these accounts, and told Mr Fordyce
that he had made up his mind to try and kill the rogue. I begged to
accompany him, and Mr Fordyce said that he would go and keep us out of
mischief. We had our two Moor-men--the chief of whom we called Dango;
and several of the villagers volunteered to accompany us and show us the
haunts of the rogue. All arrangements were soon made--we were to start
by dawn the next morning.
Delighted with the prospect before us, I was about to lie down on a sofa
prepared as my bed, when I saw a snake fully four feet long glide in at
the door of the room, and coil itself away under my pillow. I had no
fancy for such a companion, and not knowing whether or not it was
venomous, I shouted to Dango, whom I saw in the court, to come and help
me to kill it. Nowell, who had left the room, heard me call, and came
at the same time. Dango fearlessly put in his hand, and turning out the
snake, said that it was only a rat-snake kept tame about the house for
the purpose of killing rats, and that it was perfectly harmless. Still
I could not bring myself to lie down on the couch with the expectation
of such a visitor. Nowell very good-naturedly said that I might take
his sofa, and that he would sleep on mine. I placed myself, therefore,
on three cane chairs at the table, on which a lamp was burning. I fell
asleep, but was awoke before long by hearing a rattling and scampering
noise about the room, when, opening my eyes, I saw a dozen or more rats
making free with our boots and eatables, and a number of other articles.
Just then from under Nowell's pillow out glided the rat-snake; quick as
thought he seized one rat, then another, and then another, by which time
the rats had scampered off. He glided away in pursuit, and I conclude
returned and carried away the rest, if he did not eat them on the spot,
for they were gone when I awoke.
After hurriedly discussing some coffee and biscuit, we started on our
expedition. Mr Fordyce and Nowell had each two rifles. I had only
one. Dango was told to keep near me. Poor Solon was very unhappy at
again being left behind, but he was so very likely to get killed if he
flew at an elephant that it was but prudent not to take him with us.
Torches were lighted to show us the way and scare off wild beasts, as we
sallied forth from our tapestried chambers. There was a slight crescent
moon, and the stars were shining with the most wonderful brilliancy in
the dark blue sky on the calm waters of a lake or ruined reservoir,
along which our course for some little distance lay. There we had to
border round a piece of country which had some years before been subject
to the process of chena cultivation, but which, having been again
deserted, was covered with a dense thorny jungle such as no man could
force his way through without being almost torn in pieces, but which
affords a secure retreat to elephants and all other wild animals. Close
to the edge of this the cultivated land of the village extended, and
people were stationed in watch-houses erected up among the branches of
the trees, shrieking and yelling, and beating drums, and making every
conceivable noise to drive back into the jungle the elephants who were
accustomed to take their morning repast off their fields of coracan, and
maize or millet. It was well known that the rogue elephant was near,
and so audacious had he become, that though driven off from one part, he
was very likely to appear directly afterwards in another. After waiting
for some time in the hopes of getting a shot at him from the trees, we
came to the conclusion that he suspected danger, and would not again
appear. Nowell, who took the lead, therefore resolved to follow him.
Dango was too keen about the matter to object, though, as he observed,
"Many mans get killed so."
I ought to have said that Dango had been so much with the English, and
so often out with English sportsmen, that he could express himself very
tolerably in English. Mr Fordyce, laughing, said that he should prefer
watching outside with the horses; so, accompanied by four of the most
active villagers, Nowell, Dango, and I prepared to penetrate through the
jungle. Our only mode of escaping the thorns was to crawl on our hands
and knees, trailing our rifles after us; and to do this without the
certainty of their going off, we had to secure the locks in cases. Then
we had the possibility of meeting unexpectedly with a cobra di capello,
or boa constrictor, or a wild boar, or more dangerous still, a bear,
besides running a risk of having our eyes scratched out, and other
little inconveniences of that sort. Our chief object was to avoid
making any noise.
After proceeding some way, we could hear the rustling sound of the
leaves, as the rogue, as we supposed, moved his head or perhaps only his
ears among them. I held my breath. There were no tall trees near
behind which we could run should he espy us. Our only chance of safety
was in bringing him down by a shot. We were well to windward of him,
and he had not yet discovered us. We all stopped, holding our breath,
with our rifles cocked, ready to fire. We were not a dozen yards from
him, but so thick was the jungle that nothing of him could be seen.
Suddenly the peculiar "prur-r-r" sound I have described was heard. I
saw Nowell and Dango exchange glances. Suddenly the almost perfect
silence was broken by a loud shrill trumpeting, followed immediately by
a terrific crash such as an elephant only can make, as with his huge
body he pushes through the jungle.
"Here they come," cried Nowell; "it is not a single rogue--there may be
a dozen; we must turn them, or we shall be done for. Fire at the
biggest, and perhaps the rest will take to flight."
I had no time to ask him how he knew this. In truth, I am not ashamed
to say that I felt as I had never felt before. Just as I expected to
see the herd of monsters appearing through the jungle, and either to see
one of them roll over from the effect of my rifle, or to have one of his
huge feet placed upon me, or to feel myself wriggling, like a worm in
the beak of a bird, in his trunk, Nowell shouted out, "They have winded
us--they have turned--they are running. On, on--follow, follow."
This was more easily said than done. The herd had, as we soon found,
formed a lane; but thousands of thorny creepers, from the size of cables
to the thinnest wires, still hung across it from bush to bush, and
cactus plants, from twenty feet and upwards in height, many overthrown
and partly crushed, presented their sword-like points as a
_chevaux-de-frise_ to impede our advance. Still, in the excitement of
the chase we scarcely felt the pricks and punctures our bodies were
receiving, or saw the tatters to which our clothes were being reduced.
On we pushed, creeping under or jumping over obstacles, or hacking at
them with our knives--Dango and the natives using their axes with great
effect. It seemed wonderful how their nearly naked skins did not get
torn off their bodies; but by long practice they knew how to avoid
obstacles far better than we did. The elephants were going along before
us at a great rate, for at least twenty minutes had passed since we had
last seen them; still, we could not tell at what moment we might again
be upon them. Dango once more cautioned us to be ready. Not a sound
was heard. The boughs were still quivering which they must have set in
motion. We knew that we must be again close upon them. Stealthily as
North American Indians on a war trail we crept on. I began to feel much
more confidence than I had before done. Still, I only hoped that the
elephants would not charge us. We got our rifles ready for a shot.
Every instant we expected to be upon them, when suddenly the warning
"prur-r-r-r-r-t" was heard, followed by a loud crashing of boughs and
brushwood. Were they about to charge us? No; off they were again. The
sun was getting up. There was but little air that we could feel.
Still, there was enough to carry our scent down to the elephant. It was
intensely hot. We had had very little breakfast, and I began to think
that elephant-shooting was rather a serious sort of sport after all.
Nowell was too practised and keen a sportsman to think anything of the
sort, so hallooing me on again, we went ahead in the chase. We had much
the same sort of ground as before. I longed to be out of the jungle,
but the cunning elephants well knew that it was the safest sort of
country for them. They could always keep out of sight in it, and might
if they wished charge us at any moment. Had they been the ferocious
creatures some people describe them, this they would have done long
before. By degrees, the little wind there had been died away, and Dango
intimated that the elephants were circling round, probably making for
the lake we had before passed. This gave us fresh hope of overtaking
them. On we pushed, therefore. At length we came to a point where the
thick trail separated in two parts--one keeping to the left, the other
straight on. Nowell determined to follow the latter, though it was the
narrowest, made by only two or three elephants, or perhaps only one. We
knew now that we were less likely to be discovered by the elephants, as
they know of the approach of their enemies more by their scent than
their sight, which is supposed to be rather short. Working our way on,
we entered a low jungle which had been a short time before a chena
plantation. It was about five feet nigh, and it was of so dense a
character that no human being could have penetrated it unless in the
track of elephants. We had not entered it more than five minutes, when
just before us appeared the retreating form of a huge elephant. Nowell
started with delight and rushed on. I followed close at his heels, and
Dango and the natives followed me.
It seemed extraordinary foolhardiness that a few men should have
ventured to follow close on the heels of a huge monster armed with
powers so prodigious as the elephant. So it would have been had it not
been for those deadly little rifle balls we carried in our guns.
Nowell had almost got up to the monster, who, however, still went on.
What was my surprise to see Nowell suddenly stop, and lifting his rifle,
give him a bow chaser. He must have expected to cripple him, and thus
to be better able to give him a shot in a vital part. The elephant in a
moment halted, Nowell being almost close upon him. Round the monster
turned with a terrific shriek of pain and fury. Nowell sprang back only
just in time to get out of the way of his trunk. The elephant for a
moment stood facing us, and blocking up the path in front. We had the
narrow pathway he had formed through the jungle alone to retreat by.
Nowell had only one barrel loaded, and was not ten paces from the huge
brute. Still, he stood calm as a statue. I could not help expecting to
see him crushed the next instant beneath the elephant's feet, and
believed that I and those behind me would share his fate directly after.
In a clear grass country, with some trees to get behind, they might
have hoped to escape, as a man can run as fast as an elephant, and keep
it up longer; but in the tangled brake through which we had passed they
would not have the remotest chance of it. If Nowell fell, I believed
that I should fall also. The suspense lasted but a short time. Raising
his trunk, and trumpeting with rage, on came the elephant. Nowell still
stood steady as a rock, showing the firmest nerve; the elephant was
within six paces of him. I stepped forward with my rifle levelled and
my eye on the elephant's forehead. Nowell fired. Through the smoke
which hung thickly around I saw the monster's head appearing with
terrible distinctness. I heard Nowell's voice. Whether or not the
elephant was crushing him I could not tell. I fired my first barrel. I
was about to fire the other, when the huge head sank down to the ground,
and from the cloud of smoke Nowell appeared standing within two feet of
the monster's trunk.
"Bravo! capitally done, Marsden!" he exclaimed in a clear voice. "Your
shot is not far off mine, that I'll be bound."
The elephant lay dead before us. He was right; his bullet had taken
effect in the elephant's forehead, and mine was two inches below it.
Which had killed him I do not know. Probably either would have proved
mortal. Certainly he dropped the moment he got mine. We had done some
good; we had commenced the destruction of the marauding herd, but still
we had not killed the rogue. Excited to the utmost by our success, and
ready for anything, we resolved if possible to accomplish that
undertaking before we returned to the village.
One of the natives cutting off the tail of the elephant we had killed,
we worked our way as well as we could out of the jungle, and found
ourselves in a more open country, with the lake on one side and some
hills on the other--the intervening space, sloping up the side of the
mountain, being covered with dense lemon grass, which we found on
approaching was twelve feet high. Dango, on looking about and examining
the ground, assured us that the herd had gone in that direction, and
that the rogue himself was not far from him. The spot was altogether a
very secluded one, and very likely to be the resort of large herds of
elephants. Before us a promontory stretched out into the lake. We
proceeded to the end to look out for elephants, as there was no doubt
that they frequented the lake to drink; but none were seen, so we judged
that they had retired into the cooler jungle after their morning repast.
We turned, therefore, back to the foot of the mountains on our left,
when the loud trumpeting or roaring of elephants brought us to a halt.
The roaring grew louder and louder, and as it reverberated among the
cliffs and rocks, it seemed more like distant thunder than any sound
which living animals could make, and more dread-inspiring than anything
I could have conceived. Dango said at once that the sound must be made
by a large herd, and that they were a quarter of a mile off at least.
On drawing nearer, Dango discovered the tracks, though the ground was
hard and sandy, and covered with rocks. He pointed out here and there a
stone displaced, and pieces of twigs, and crunched grass, and leaves
which the elephants had dropped while browsing as they sauntered on.
Here and there also we came to a soft place, where they had left the
marks of their huge feet.
It was now necessary to proceed with the greatest caution, for we knew
that we could not be many paces from the herd. Having clambered over
and among a number of rocks with no little difficulty, we found
ourselves on the margin of a level space, so completely covered with the
lemon grass of which I have spoken that it was with difficulty we could
force our way through it. Still, Nowell did not hesitate to enter it,
and of course I went with him, followed closely by Dango and the
natives. Presently Nowell put his hand on my shoulder, and pointing
forward, I perceived the dark lump just rising above the tall grass,
less than forty yards off, with something moving about, which I soon
guessed was an elephant's ear, which it was flapping up and down.
Directly afterwards we made out another elephant close to it; and from
the peculiar movement of the grass in different places there could be no
doubt that we were close upon a large and just now scattered herd; but
as the grass was above their heads, we could not make out exactly how
many were in each spot. Again we all stopped, and Nowell signed to the
men to be excessively careful; the slightest noise would have alarmed
them. They might either have charged at us from different quarters, or
they might have turned tail and trotted off before we could get a shot
at them. The two elephants we had at first seen, there could be little
doubt, from their superior height, were the leaders of the herd, and
probably the rogue was, as usual, at no great distance. It was very
important, if we could, to ascertain his position, as he, we knew, was
most likely to be on the look-out, and to come suddenly upon us. We
retreated slowly to a rock, from whence we thought we should get a
better view over the sea of grass, when I stumbled and hit the butt of
my rifle against a stone. Slight as the noise was, it was enough to
awake the vigilance of the watchers. At the same moment, high up above
the grass went their trunks, and they blew the loud shrill note of
alarm. Immediately from different directions other trunks were thrown
up, each sounding an answering blast; and here and there the vast heads
of elephants appeared, with eyes glancing around, trying to ascertain
the nature of the danger of which their leaders had forewarned them.
All this time the two leaders were keeping up the most terrific,
rumbling roar, like peal upon peal of thunder, thus summoning the herd
to unite. However, they did not show any disposition to retreat, but
kept gazing at us with ears cocked, as if they fully intended us
mischief. We still kept as quiet as possible, hoping to see all the
herd unite before they attempted to decamp. In a short time a very
considerable number had assembled round the two leaders, and there they
stood gazing at our faces just appearing above the grass, and seemingly
meditating whether they should make a rush at us or not. Nowell seemed
to think that this was a favourable opportunity to advance towards them.
On we went through the high grass. Had I not been with a good
sportsman like Nowell and a practised hunter like Dango, I should have
thought that what we were doing was the height of madness. No sooner,
however, did we thus boldly advance than the greater portion of the herd
turned round and retreated before us. At the same time the two leaders,
and a third who had joined them, as was the duty of the warriors
probably of the party, formed in line, and beating the grass right and
left with their trunks, with ears cocked, tails up, and uttering loud
screams, rushed forward directly at us. My legs felt a strong
inclination to turn about and run away; but as Nowell in the coolest
manner advanced to meet them, so of necessity did I.
"Marsden, mark the right fellow, and aim carefully at the forehead,"
said he. "I'll take the two left. Dango, have the rifle ready to hand
me if I want it."
He spoke as calmly as if there was not a particle of danger, I began to
fancy that there was none, and that in a wonderful way gave me coolness.
I kept my rifle on the cock, ready to fire when he gave the word. On
they came in a perfect line, till they were within ten paces of us.
"Fire!" he exclaimed.
The smoke obscured all before us. There was still a tramping sound. I
saw a huge head projecting out of it, while a terrific roar sounded
close to me. I had still one barrel. I fired, and the monster dropped
dead. When the smoke cleared off we found that the right and left
beasts had been killed by our first shots, but that he had only wounded
the second elephant, my shot having killed him outright. I was
exceedingly proud of my achievements, and it excited me to further
exertions. I forgot all about my previous dislike to the idea of
killing the sagacious animals. Indeed, after the tales the villagers
had told us of the devastations they had committed, I felt that we were
really conferring a great benefit on the poor people.
"On, on after them!" cried Nowell, as soon as we had reloaded and
inspected the elephants we had killed.
A wide lane was formed by the retreating elephants as they had crushed
through the tall grass, and we could see them in full retreat before us.
We rushed after them at a rapid rate, forgetting all the necessary
caution. We soon gained upon them, and one of them turning his head,
Nowell fired, and over he went. All the savage part of our nature was,
I believe, excited. For my own part I only thought of how many
elephants I could kill. Another animal turned--I believe that he was
going to stand at bay or to charge--I fired, the bullet hit him, and
down he went. I was rushing up to him when Nowell shouted to me to
stop. Fortunately he did so, for up got the monster with a cry of fury,
and charged us. Nowell fired, and before the smoke had cleared away he
had ceased to struggle. Still there were many more elephants, but they
began to scatter. Nowell followed some to the right, while I, not
seeing that he had gone in that direction, went after some to the left.
They made up the mountain. I found that Dango was coming after me,
having handed Nowell's second rifle to one of the other men. Before us
appeared a large elephant and a little one not more than three and a
half feet in height. We very quickly caught them up, when the mother--
if mother she was--instead of protecting the young one, retreated up the
mountain towards a thick jungle near at hand, leaving it in our power.
Dango, with a spring, caught it by the tail, but so strong was it, that
it was dragging him towards the jungle, when it turned round its trunk,
and he then caught that also, and there he held it, shouting lustily for
me to come and help him, while the little elephant kept bellowing and
roaring louder than even the big ones. I hurried up and assisted in
dragging the poor little poonchy up to a tree, to which Dango, with some
of the flexible creepers which grew about, very quickly made it fast, at
the same time hobbling its feet so, that had it broken loose it could
not run away. Just as we had done, while roaring away as loudly as a
full-grown elephant, it gave me a blow with its trunk which very nearly
flattened my nose in a very disagreeable way. However, I felt that I
richly deserved the infliction, so did not retaliate.
All this time we fully expected to see the mother return to the
assistance of her charge, but still she kept away. We therefore retired
to a little distance behind some rocks to wait for her; but we were not
wholly concealed, and although little poonchy kept roaring on, she still
kept carefully within the cover. It was Dango's opinion, as it was
mine, that she was not the real mother of the little animal, but that
its own mother having been killed, it had gone to her for protection,
and that her own was somewhere with the herd. Indeed, we had seen
another young elephant running off with the main body.
On looking down over the now well-trampled sea of lemon grass, we saw in
the distance several more elephants. Wishing to rejoin Nowell, and to
have another chance of a shot, I descended the hill, followed by Dango.
We worked our way up to the spot where our three elephants lay, when my
companion shrieked out at the top of his voice--
"Sahib, sahib, look dere, look dere--elephant come!" I did look towards
the point indicated, and there, sure enough, came a huge beast--who was
evidently, from his peculiar characteristics, every inch a rogue--
bursting at full charge through the tall grass. He carried his trunk
high up in the air, while--with ears cocked, and his tail standing out
above his back like the ensign staff at the stern of a man-of-war's
boat--screaming terrifically, he rushed at me with scarcely credible
velocity. To escape from him through that tall, thick grass was utterly
impossible. What to him were mere gossamer threads served effectually
to stop my progress. I had all along at first had some slight doubts as
to the wisdom of the expedition in which I was engaged. I then
remembered that I foolishly had not loaded after I had fired my last
shot. I had, consequently, only one barrel ready.
With his trunk raised I could not hope to hit the elephant on the
forehead even if I fired, so I resolved to wait till the last moment,
when he was close upon me, thinking that he might then lower it to
strike me, and expose a vital spot. On he came with a speed greater
than I had supposed an elephant could use. Right and left flew the long
grass, louder and louder grew his horrid screams as he saw that I was
within his power. Still his trunk was raised, and I could not fire. In
another moment, with a scream of triumph and gratified rage, he was
within three feet of me. I fired, and immediately exerting all my
muscular powers to the utmost, I sprang on one side. In vain it seemed.
Down like a flash of lightning he lashed his powerful trunk at me, and
I felt myself hurled through the air as a ball is sent off from a
golf-stick, to the distance of a dozen yards from him, or even more, I
thought. Happily it was among the still standing grass. I had been
struck on the thigh, and was not stunned, though the limb felt numbed,
and I thought must be smashed to pieces. That little mattered, though,
as I fully expected to have my head in another moment in as bad a
condition. I looked up; I could see where he was by the movement of the
top of the grass. He stopped and kept beating the grass about on every
side with his trunk, evidently searching for me, that he might squeeze
the breath out of my body with his huge knees. I lay as still as death,
not daring to breathe, for I knew that my only hope of safety lay in his
not discovering me till some one came up to my rescue. What had become
of Dango I could not tell. Nearer and nearer he drew. It is impossible
to describe my sensations. When I was standing upright with my weapon
in my hand, and hoped to bring him down by a shot, they had been very
terrible--now they were ten times worse. I could hear the grass
rustling as he drew close to where I lay. I should have liked to have
shut my eyes and resigned myself to my fate, but I could not. Closer
and closer he drew. His long black trunk waved several times about the
grass over the very spot where I was. He bent it to the right and left,
as a heavy fall of rain with a strong wind does a field of corn.
Tighter I held my breath, and mercifully, in consequence of my having
reserved my fire till the muzzle of my rifle almost touched him, had so
nearly blinded him, and so dulled his power of scent, that he was less
able to discover me. Had his trunk but grazed me as he struck it about
above my head, I should instantly have been discovered, and my fate
would have been sealed. Round and round me he walked, roaring away in
his fury and disappointment at not finding me. The circle grew larger,
and the noise of the rustling of the grass grew fainter. Once more I
began to breathe, and to consider what was the matter with my leg.
Still I dared not move. Perhaps the rogue was only standing still
watching for me. No; the rustling continued, but every moment was
growing fainter. It ceased altogether. Then I heard some shouting and
loud trumpeting, followed quickly by three shots in succession. I
earnestly hoped that Nowell had not been caught by the rogue. I felt
thankful that I had thus far been saved, but still I was not certain
that I was safe. At length I ventured to move my limbs to ascertain if
my thigh was broken. I first found, to my great joy, that I was able to
crawl, and then that I could stand upright. My cap was gone, and so was
my rifle, I could not tell where. I felt the pain too great to proceed,
and so I shouted at the top of my voice for help. An answer was made to
my cry, and soon Dango came working his way through the grass up to me.
The tears streamed down his cheeks when he saw me, for he thought I was
killed. Unarmed it was useless for him to come to my rescue, and from
behind one of the dead elephants he had watched the proceedings of the
rogue. He was now almost as anxious as I was to ascertain what had
become of Nowell and the natives. He feared, as I did, that the rogue
might have caught them.
The conduct of the brute was a fair example of the mode in which rogues
generally proceed. He had waited concealed, probably close at hand,
while we were attacking the rest of the herd, and then the instant he
saw that we were unprepared, had dashed out on us. Had I attempted to
run when he got near me, he would have killed me in a moment by striking
me on the back; or, had I not jumped aside, he would equally have
finished me by a blow on the stomach; had he struck me on the shoulder,
he would only have knocked me down, so that the mode in which I was
struck was the only one by which my life could have been preserved.
Dango hunting about at length found my rifle, on the stock of which the
elephant had actually stepped, leaving his impress on it, and I having
picked up my cap, after loading the rifle, we followed the track of the
retreating rogue towards the spot where we had heard the last shots
fired.
On we went till we came on the huge body of the rogue, with Nowell and
the natives standing near. He was measuring it, and found it nearly
fourteen feet in height, a huge monster even for Ceylon. He had heard
my shot, and even when he saw the rogue with a wounded head, believing
that I had turned him, he had had no notion of the danger to which I had
been exposed. I was helped to a stream of cold water which flowed down
from the mountain, and in this my thigh was bathed till the pain was
somewhat assuaged. A litter was then formed of bamboos and creepers, on
which the natives bore me back towards the spot where we had left the
horses, while Dango led away the poor little poonchy. At first the baby
elephant cried and roared most lustily; but, on food being given it,
after a short time it seemed reconciled to its fate. A young elephant
is very soon tamed.
Mr Fordyce was delighted to see us back after our long absence, for he
had become really anxious about us. He could scarcely credit the
account we had to give of the number of elephants we had killed, and I
suspect regretted that he had not been of our party. Of course he was
very much concerned at finding how serious was the injury I received,
though, when we arrived in safety at the village, he could not help
saying in his usual facetious manner--
"Well, Marsden, I hope that you are satisfied with the specimen you have
had of the delights of elephant-shooting, and I only trust that you may
never meet a greater rogue than you did to-day."