Thirteen years among the wild beasts of India : their haunts and habits from personal observations, with an account of the modes and capturing and taming elephants . ling position in which I fell. Asthe elephant rushed over me he shrieked shrilly, which showed his trunkwas uncoiled; and his head also being held low instead of in charging posi-tion, I inferred rightly that he was in full flight. Had he stopped I shouldhave been caught, but the heavy bullet had taken all the fighting out ofhim. Jaffer had been disposed of by a recoiling bamboo, and was now lyingalmost in the elephants line; fort
Thirteen years among the wild beasts of India : their haunts and habits from personal observations, with an account of the modes and capturing and taming elephants . ling position in which I fell. Asthe elephant rushed over me he shrieked shrilly, which showed his trunkwas uncoiled; and his head also being held low instead of in charging posi-tion, I inferred rightly that he was in full flight. Had he stopped I shouldhave been caught, but the heavy bullet had taken all the fighting out ofhim. Jaffer had been disposed of by a recoiling bamboo, and was now lyingalmost in the elephants line; fortunately, however, the brute held on. Iwas covered with blood from the wound inflicted by his late antagonist inhis left side; even my hair was matted together when the blood becamedry. The mahout had jumped into the deep and precipitous nullah to ourleft at the commencement of hostilities. How it was that I did not bag the elephant I cannot tell. Probably Iwent a trifle high, but even then the shock should have stopped him. He was,I believe, unable to pull up, being on a gentle incline and at full speed, though A / .-* i, * -- •*• • . - : . • •: v ^. WANT OF TRACKERS. 237 doubtless all hostile intentions were knocked out of him by the severe visi-tation upon his knowledge-box. Had I done anything but what I did atthe critical moment there is no doubt I should have been caught. I felt ascollected through it all as possible. The deadly coolness which sportsmenoften experience is in proportion in its intensity to the increase of danger andnecessity for nerve. Jaffer and I picked ourselves up and pursued the retreating tusker. Hewas now going slowly and wearily, and we were up with him in two hun-dred yards from the scene of our discomfiture, but in such thick cover thatit would have been folly to have closed with him there; so, as we had thewind, we kept about thirty yards behind him. Unfortunately the bamboo-cover was extensive, and in about a quarter of a mile he joine
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidthir, booksubjectelephants
