untried; and, as
the nulla was only about twelve yards wide, we felt pretty confident
that, if the Mugger were in it, we could scarcely fail of coming in
contact with him. We had proceeded only about a quarter of a mile, when
the float suddenly dipt. My brother and Hall threw the loose coil of
ropes they carried on the water, along with the inflated skins. These
made it soon evident by their motion that the Mugger had seized the kid.
He was dashing across, in a zig-zag direction, down the stream. I ran
after him as fast as I could; and paying out the cord from the reel,
when I found it impossible to keep up with him. On reaching a place
where the banks were steeper than usual, he came to a stand still. I
got on the top of the bank, and commenced hauling in the rope. I did
not, however, venture to lift the skin out of the water, for fear of
disturbing him, until the coolies with the battery had time to come up.
This was a very anxious time; for, if the Mugger had shifted his
quarters before they came up, a fresh run with him would have ensued,
with the chance of his breaking the wires with his teeth. After a while
I heard the coolies approaching, and my brother scolding them, and
urging them to hasten on. Just as their heads appeared above the bank,
the foremost coolie tripped his foot and fell--I groaned with
disappointment--presently, my brother came along with them, and brought
the battery to my feet; a good deal of the acid had been spilt, but,
with the aid of a bottle of fresh acid we had brought along with us, we
soon got the battery up to the requisite power. Every thing being now in
order, I commenced pulling up the rope with the wire. I proceeded as
cautiously as possible for fear of disturbing the Mugger; but, in spite
of all my efforts, the inflated skin, in coming up the bank, dislodged
some loose pieces of earth, and sent them splashing into the water.
Fortunately, however, the Mugger had made up his mind to digest the kid
where he was. I could not help chuckling when I at length got hold of
the end of the wires. While my brother was fastening one of them to the
battery, I got the other ready for completing the circuit. The Mugger
all the while lying still at the bottom of the nulla with, most likely,
a couple of fathoms of water over his head, unconscious of danger, and
little dreaming that the two-legged creatures on the bank had got a
nerve communicating with his stomach, through which they were going to
s