her moment they had
disappeared. It had been a sharp burst up the steep hill, and we stopped
to breathe, but we were almost immediately in pursuit again, as we saw
the herd emerge from the jungle at the base of the hill, and plough
their way through a vast field of high lemon grass.

Upon arriving on their tracks, they had fairly distanced us. The grass,
which was as thick as a hedge, was trodden into lanes by the elephants,
and upon either side it stood like a wall ten or twelve feet high.
Upon these tracks we ran along for some time, until it became dusk. We
halted, and were consulting as to the prudence of continuing the chase
at this late hour, when we suddenly heard the cracking of the branches
in a small jungle in a hollow close to our left, and upon taking a
position upon some rising ground, we distinctly saw several elephants
standing in the high grass about a hundred paces before us, close to
the edge of the jungle in which the remaining portion of the herd was
concealed. Two of the elephants were looking at us, and as there was no
time to lose, we walked straight up to them. They stood quietly watching
us till we were within twenty yards, when they came a few paces forward,
one immediately fall ing dead to my shot, while the other was turned by
a shot from my brother; the rest retreated to the jungle over the most
difficult ground for both man and beast. Immense rocks lay scattered in
heaps over the surface, forming chasms by the intervening crevices of
five and six feet in depth; from these crevices the long lemon grass
grew in dense tufts, completely hiding the numerous pitfalls, and making
the retreat of the elephants and our pursuit equally difficult. I was
close to the tail of a large elephant, who was picking his way carefully
over the treacherous surface, and I was waiting for an opportunity for
a shot should he turn his head, when I suddenly pitched head first into
one of these rocky holes. Here I scrambled for some seconds before I
could extricate myself, as I was carrying my heavy four-ounce rifle; and
at length, upon recovering my footing, I found that all the elephants
had gained the jungle, except the one that I had been following. He was
about twenty yards from me, and was just entering the jungle, but I got
a splendid shot at him behind the ear and rolled him over.

It was very nearly dark, and we could not of course follow the herd any
farther; we therefore reloaded, and turned towards the dire