most enjoyable after the restless tossings of a sleepless night. The
Moormen were out at dawn to look for elephants, the guns were cleaned,
and I looked forward to the return of the trackers with peculiar
interest, as we had determined to 'catch an elephant.' The Moormen were
all full of excitement and preparation. These men were well practised
in this sport, and they were soon busied in examining and coiling their
hide ropes for the purpose.

At about mid-day the trackers returned, having found a herd about five
miles from the village. We were all ready, and we set off without
a moment's delay, our party consisting of my brother, myself, four
gun-bearers, and about thirty Moormen, each of whom carried a coil of
finely-twisted rope made of thongs of raw deer's hide; these ropes were
each twenty yards in length, and about an inch in diameter.

Having skirted the borders of the tank for about three miles, we turned
into the forest, and continued our route through alternate open
and thick forest, until we at length reached a rough, open country,
interspersed with low jungles. Here we met the watchers, who reported
the herd to be a few hundred paces from us in some patches of thick
jungle. Taking the wind, we carefully approached their position. The
ground was very rough, being a complete city of anthills about two
feet high; these were overgrown with grass, giving the open country an
appearance of a vast churchyard of turf graves. Among these tumps grew
numerous small clusters of bushes, above which, we shortly discovered
the flapping ears of the elephants, they were slowly feeding towards the
more open ground. It was a lovely afternoon, the sky was covered with
a thin grey cloud, and the sun had little or no power. Hiding behind a
bush, we watched the herd for some time, until they had all quitted the
bushes and were well out in the open. There were two elephants facing
us, and the herd, which consisted of seven, were tolerably close
together, with the exception of one, who was about thirty yards apart
from the main body; this fellow we determined to catch. We therefore
arranged that our gun-bearers and four rope-carriers should accompany
us, while the remaining portion of our party should lie in reserve to
come to our assistance when required, as so large a body of men could
not possibly stalk the herd without being discovered. Falling upon our
hands and knees, we crept between the grassy ant-hills towards the two
lead