. Two years in the jungle : the experiences of a hunter and naturalist in India, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula and Borneo . k, and have a tussle with him. I knew very weU that, like most wild animals, the female elephantis very suspicious and dangerous when she has a young one to pro-tect, but in watching that little calf for a good half-hoiu* at a dis-tance of only forty paces, I must have grown rather careless. Theherd was huddled together in a thick clump of small trees, andmy men were hiding near me, waiting patiently for the sahib to seeall he wanted to see. At length the little baby elepha
. Two years in the jungle : the experiences of a hunter and naturalist in India, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula and Borneo . k, and have a tussle with him. I knew very weU that, like most wild animals, the female elephantis very suspicious and dangerous when she has a young one to pro-tect, but in watching that little calf for a good half-hoiu* at a dis-tance of only forty paces, I must have grown rather careless. Theherd was huddled together in a thick clump of small trees, andmy men were hiding near me, waiting patiently for the sahib to seeall he wanted to see. At length the little baby elephant wanderedoflf to the other side of the herd from me, and I determined towork round to that side also. Immediately around the clump oftrees which sheltered the elephants, the ground was level and thecover very thin indeed. I saw that to reach the other side of theherd I would have to cross a small patch of open ground ; but Ithought the elephants would not notice me if I crouched low andwent very slowly. Moving back a few paces I started to make thecircuit, crouching almost to the ground, but keeping a cai-eful eye. S ^ <3 ?< m O P£) C3 o ELEPHAIS^T HUNTI^^G. 141 upon the herd. Just as I reached the middle of that small openspace, I heard a profound rustling among the thick branches thatscreened the herd ; in another instant the branches parted suddenly,and a huge old female came rushing down upon me. She had sufficient distance to get under full headway, and al-though my breath stopped and my heart stood still with sheerfright, I yet realized she was the grandest living object I ever saw—and the most teiTible. Her head was held high and her trunkcurled up under her mouth to be uncoiled when within reach ofme, I suppose ; her ears seemed to stand straight out from herhead with the tips curled forwai-d, and the strides of her massivelegs were perfectly enormous. Luckily she came on in dead si-lence, or I should have been frightened out of my wits. As it was,I felt as i
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