ir; and seizing the branches that were within its reach, it
snapped them off from the main stem as if they had been tiny twigs.

In a short time the tree, which had been furnished with low-spreading
limbs, was completely stripped of these to a height of nearly
twenty-feet from the ground; while the space underneath had become
strewn with twigs, leaves, and broken branches, crushed into a litter
under the broad, ponderous hooves of the mammoth as he kept moving
incessantly over them.

Not content with stripping the tree of its branches, the old tusker
seized hold of its trunk--lapping his own _trunk_ as far as he could
around it--and commenced tugging at it, as if he had hopes of being able
to drag it up by the roots.

Perceiving after trial that this feat was beyond his power, he relaxed
his hold, and then set about another experiment--that of pushing down
the tree with his shoulder.

Although he succeeded in causing the tree to tremble, he soon became
satisfied that it stood firm enough to resist all his strength, great as
it was: and under this conviction he at length desisted from the
attempt.

He showed no sign, however, of any intention to leave the ground; but,
on the contrary, took his stand under the tree: since the very opposite
was the determination which he had formed in his mind.

Although confident that they were in security, our adventurers were
anything but exultant. They saw that they were only safe for the time;
and, that although their dreaded adversary might after a while withdraw
and leave them free to descend, still there could be no security for the
future. They had now less hope of being able to destroy this powerful
enemy: as they had only one charge left for their guns, and that might
not be sufficient to take away his life. The spilling of their powder
by the elephant itself seemed like a piece of strategy on his part,
leaving them in a sad dilemma.

Inside any house they might build, they would be no better protected
against him than on the open ground: for the rogue had proved himself
capable of demolishing the strongest walls they might construct; and to
be out of his reach, they would be obliged to keep eternally among the
tops of the trees, and lead the life of monkeys or squirrels--which
would be a very disagreeable kind of existence.

Just then an idea occurred to Caspar that offered them an alternative to
this unpleasant prospect of an arboreal life. He bethought him of the