The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1875-09-16
A Night Aboard an Elephant.

bobs and nabobs on shore AS soon as it VIA,
known that he was on board the Columbia of
came one of the directors of the East Indis
Company, puffy old Englshman, fat anC
stiff, but extremely polite and kind. There
was hob-nobbing with the admiral in the cabin
and then we We're both invited-I. being Sc
cond IN command, was entitled to some respect
to go on tiger hunt the next day and to din
ner afterward. The admiral was greatly de
lighted at the plan ana 50 was |. The neXt
morning saw us ashore at an early hour, each
with rifle, pistol and strong, sharp knife, tor
one may expect to need all sorts of weapons in
tiger hunt Sir Richard Che was baronet)
met Us IN very good spirits, and said that the
natives living outside of the eastern quarter OF
the town had been very much scared the night
before by Il big, old, man-eatng tiger who had
been seen proWling round--"and when they
have once had d outlet OFT II native" said he in
cheerful tone, as if Il native Were Il sheep,
" they always prefer that kind of meat after
ward. We will see if we cannot put an end to
his fun
We drove, in light dog-cart, several miles
out of the city, to Il spot where we Were to find
our elephant, and meet two gentlemen who
had also been invited They seemed pleasant
enough, and we took Il glass of beer together,
While Sir Richard stepped out to see after the
elephant. Pretty soon he came back, rubbing
his hands, and remarked that our nag seemed
to be Il little out of sorts, but he thought She
would come round all right.
forgot to tell you in the right place that they
hunt tigers here with the elephant The latter
rates them as his mortal enemy. and always
fights them turiously. Tie hunter sits in the
hoW'tah on the back Of the elephant, and, while
that faithful animal anlusc> the tiger with a
lively play of feet and tusks, he shoots the tiger
whenever he can Get Il good chance. This
might seem comparatively safe way of doing
1t; but often the tiger gets drcadfuIly excited
and climbs the elephants back, in which case
he is likely to claw the hunter very sharply.
Our elephant was very large one. She was
eleven feet high and generally they are not
more than eight or nine. She was as large as
some males. As soon ~ | caught sight Of her,
| saw she was very cross. llali-a-dozen ma
tiveS clustered round, held the ladder against
her side, and the work Of mounting commenced
1t was work. If man missed his chance it
was all up with him. | had rather beach A
boat in a heavy sea than get over the high sides
of a howdah with Il plunging elephant The
admiral, rs ranking officer, Went first. Being
the tlrst, there was nobody TO report exactly
how he got in, and he kept discreet silence
on the subject; but | saw his elderly heels do
NC some wild work in the air as he vanished
over the Side, and also saw him examine his
left epalIet, rs if he thought it might have sllt-
fefed from rough contact with something; his
cap was alI on one side, in Il most undsciplined
manner; so | am pretty certain he landed on
his head and left shoulder. However, he looked
out and said 'Come on, Captain Atkins with
I'm air of entire compoSure; and up started.
The ladder staggered, the elephant danced. |
grasped the edge of the howdah, got one leg in
the air ready for jump. received Il violent but-
trt from the top round of the ladder, and bump
went on the floor of the howdah, my feet very
near the nose Of my superior officer and my coat
pockets entirely reversed. Derisiye laughter
was heard from all sides as | changed round, in
which | could not help joining myself. Then
came the turn of the third man. He was one
Of the Englishmen. and the admiral and
hal ln
he would do. An acrobat would have found it
difficult to come up that ladder had no idea
an elephant could move SC quickly. The Eng
lishmHn was about half way up when the lad
der swaycd frightiully. Come on" we cried
Now is Your chance; it is Very easy, now. -
Poor fellow he tried to take heart and gave
one plunge ahead, gri>ping ut the side of the
howdah.
Alas be missed it. slid away to the stern,
hung for i moment doubtuily balanced on the
elephants Group, and then slipped down her
hind leg to the ground, where the enraged
beast with ferociolls ,,lucals. turned round and
chased hlm until he took refuge behind Il big
tree. He was conlcnted to remain ON the ground
then, and dd not JOIN u i'll our expedition.
The other Engli,hnan was IN army officer
who had Seen such things before; but, in spite
of his best rndeaN Or>. he tlallcncd his nose
against the side of my head, making me thank
tul his nose was the softer, and put his foot in
my lap with emphasis. Lastly came Sir Rich
ard, fat, puffy and dI@nificd. At least twenty
keepers and natives We're now gathered round
for we had been about Two hours irving 10 ret
aboard, holding tile ladder firm and trying to
Soolhe the NcXed beast, Sir Richard WAS
piucky, but he cot no better treatment than the
rest Of rs. In he came flying headfOrcmo,t.
struck ON The floor, partly in Il heap. partly
spread round on lt> ami Il good deal broken un
by the process; we had some difficulty in
STRENGTHENING him ont and getting him into
place. He came out cheerful, though, and pres
emily beamed upon us as polite As ever. Then
trembling native essayed to pass our rifles up
to us. This required very nice treatment for
the elephant thought that 80 many sticks going
up her side WAS sure sign Of Il conspiracy
against her, and danced IL perfect hornppe with
Il doublc-Shuflle combination. which sent the
last rifle flying over our heads until Il trce-tOp
caught it and Il tWig cooked it and fired ii of.
We had TO leave that rifle. although it made us
one gun short.
Give way, an cried Sir Richard in Iindo-
stance, or words 10 that effect The elephant
apparently did give way all restraint She might
haYe exercised before. The mahout wa, in hi,
place astrdc Of her neck, and he gay her TN
awful prod with his irOn-pOintcd stick. which
ought to have brought her to reason: but the
unlucky thing of that ride was that everything
we did to make matters better only made them
worse. Feeling the prod her skull got, she
threw her trunk into the air, wheeled about
with Il scream like II steam engine, and started
OH III an opposite ulfeCllOn 10 tne one we want
ed to follow, at Il rattns pacc-at least it rat
tied US. i never was on Il nag that had such
gait before. Sir Richard looked as little disturb
ed as he could, and said in serene voice, This
is the largest and finest elephant belonging to
the company, but She is rather Young and Il
little triSky -Ometmcs.' 1 thought 50, for ut
that moment we struck into 4 wood, and. not
abatng her pace i'll the least, or irving to fol-
low any path, smash we went among bouehs
and trees and great swinging vines, anv one of
which getting entangied in the howdah would
have pulled it on and left us hanging on a limb
like monkeSs i'll Il cage. We rocked and shook
on top Of our moving mountain OF hcSh one
mument tossed into a heap in the middle, the
next cIiuging wildly to the sides OF the how
dab as some great Vine or branch came thrust
ing in ready to tear us out, and all the time we
had TO keep Il sharp lookout for our rifles 70
see that they did not get cooked or fired OF as
they shook round with us.
To diversity matters the cnraged beast. get
ting madder and madder, and more and more
trsky, began TO drag up small trees and wave
them round As one would Il fly brush, dropping
them with entire recklessncss as to where they
fell whenever She saw another that struck her
fancy. One of these little brushes ground off
the army officers cap and sent me whzzng
over upon the breast ofmy esteemed friend,
Sir Richard, knocking all the wind out of him,
and the poor mahout, sitting out in front with
no protection, was almost capsized every other
i SAW MIN, Ill Tue lHltrNulS OF tnG Sdk-
ing up was getting myself, hanging desperate
ly TO one OF the stumpy hairs that grow few
and far between ON an elephants forehead.
swinging to and fro, but mantullY proddng
with his stick and shouting Justify to the enrag-
ed beast, who did not mind word he said, 1t
became evident that he had no CONTROL over
her. Things began to look serious. We were
at the mercy of the animal; she might at any
moment reach up her trunk, pull OFT the mahout
or the howdah, and grind us to powder under
her great feet. The army officer took out his
pistol. ''shail we shoot her Z" said he.
Sir Richard looked Il little blank in spite of
the cheerful air he had been keeping up. and
said, in II suggestive tone: Il have sometimes
known it to take Il hundred and fifty rifle balls
to kill an elephant, and before we could finish
her she would go into transports of rage and
kill us. | suppose he went on in u tone OF
sublime patience, ''this is one of the fits of rage
elephants often have, but they always get over
them"
81 hope they do said the officer, with the
least touch of irony in his voice. about how
long do they last z"
Before Sir Richard could answer, the ele
plant as mad as ever, Numbered down a small
ravine full of mud and water ut the bottom,
and stopped short so suddenly that there was