The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1854-05-20

VINO examined the house from top to bottom.
tlNcd his suspicious on a certain room. where
he inserted a small slip Of glass in the wall
1t was presently covered, and that repeated
~ with sort OF putrid dew. The paper
was torn down, and behind it was found a
mass of ole! papers, an inch thick, stuck to-
gethcr with layers Of size, and exhibiting a
spectacle which we will not sickcn our read
crs by describing MmcIoM Uor.I<.
ELEPHANT HUNTING IN CEYLON.
From IIarpcr's Magazine for May
a tanned elephant, imprisoned in a mcnas-
erie, and compelled to 90 through his small
round of tricks for the amusement of anvbolv
who will pay the required quarter of a dollar,
Is stupid looking beast enough He seems
mountain of flesh covered with loose and
very iil-ii;ting skin. His great clumsy lcrs
look like those of couty alderman doing
pcnancc for Il course of "tca-talIc" orcics-
lie writhcs his huge trunk about with an air
OF hopeless imbcciitv. All his intellectual
energies seem concentrated upon the feat of
conveying the apples and nuts, dolcd out to
him hy the gaping urchins around. into a
>hapcleSs cha>m which is supposed to do duty
for mouth. \ very different animal is that
same elephant in his native haun:> There
he is the kecnc>t. waric>t. and most cunning
of beasts. The sharp Iit,lc eve is lighted up
with cunning: the poNtlcrous ears are alive
to the t,,inest sound that lonr swavine
trunk, As the organ Of smell, has sul,!ev
and delicacv unmatched bv the kccnc>t dor
a courage. and. VIXEN irriratcd. icrociiv SUI
passed !v no other animal,o that he needs to
be a bol'! and wary hunter who would attack
HIM IL lis native laun,> 1t is only since
man has learned 70 avail himself Of that won
drrin power the invention of which Milton
a>cr:hes To the rebel angels. TIA; he has been
able 70 cope with the elephant upon term, Of
superiority.
We speak particularly of the clcrhant O:
Ccylon. as III distinguished from lis .trican
kindred, with whom Mr.. Gordon Cumming
has made Us 50 well acquainted. We confess
to having read the Luntin. adventures ot'tiat
for either him or his achievements. II> hunt
ing was little better than iutchcry. Mount
ed upon horse whose speed enabled him TO
keep out of the elephants wav,hc fired vollcv
after vollcy into his prey till it sank down cx-
haustcd by loss ofblood. 1t was no easy mat
ter 10 miss 50 huge mark or if a lulIc. J.: /!
chance to mis-. it was but 50 much powder
and lead wasted. putin" in no jeopardy the
hunter, Whose safety dcprndrl in nowi>c up
on the stcalinc>s OF his nerves or the accura-
cv of his aim.
\ hunter Of quite a different stamp is Mr..
Baker. from whose entertaining work. The
Rifle and the Hound in Crvlon." We propose
to extract material for az article. III, pleas
urc in hunting arises not so much from Tie
death Of the animal. as from the skill! and
courage demanded on the part Of the hunter
He would give the animal fair play. lie would
scorn to shoot at his lcrsin the hope Of break
! ing the bone. and thereby disabling him. His
delight is to pop him OF with >in"!c lulct.
at a long shot of some hundreds OF yards or
to meet him face to face. and stop him in mid
charge. by sending four ounce ball crashing
through his brain: then. should the hunters
nerves shake his aim fall Or his rifle miss fire.
the next moment would see him tramplcd in
to a shaprleSs mass beneath TIE elephant ;
great feet In such case as this. the hun
tcrs excitement arises 50 much more from the
exercise of his own skill and couramc than
from a savage delight in Tie death of his vie
tim, that, though no sportsman ourselves. and
having no special admiration for sporting, we
can not avoid sympatizin. with the bold hun
ter.
The elephants Of Cc,lon are rot as extern
>ivclv engaged in the ivory business" as
those of Africa. Instead of the long tuSkS
which ornament the latter, the former have
merely ..rubbcrs." three or four inches LONG,
which are not considered worth the trouble
of extracting. Like most wild beasts in trop-
zeal countries they avoid the sun, and feed
mainly in the light. spending the hot part of
the day in the impcnctrablc jungle. From
this they emerge at about four o'clock in the
afternoon. aud return bv seven in the morn
inc. Their favorltc food is the bamboo lem
on-crass. and scdccs growing on the banks OF
rivers, ponds, and swampS. When these are
DESTROYED by drought in one part OF the coun-
try. they migrate to another. They are u>tI-
ally seen in herds of cs sil, or ten, thoush they
sometimes form companies much more numer-
Gus. The majority of the herd are usually
females. The male is larger and more tcro-
cious than the female. Not untrequently an
old bull is found who has made up his mind
to "cut" society, and live asoli;ary life Such
an one is styled by the natives rogue, an'!
sad rogue and rascal he is. Deprived Of
the amcloratng influences of female compan-
ionship, he becomes double vicious lie Sc
lects some neishborhool for his special haunt,
seldom straying to any great distance from it.
In course of time he becomes a perfect mus
,nc. wavlays the inhabitants, chaScS eve