Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-09-10
a Night Ahonrh IN ELEPHANT.

the Columbia, of came one of lilo directors
of the East India company, a puffy old
Englishman, fat and stilf but extremely
polite and kind. There was hobnobbing
with the admiral in the cabin, aud then we
were both invited-I, being second in the
command, was entitled 10 some respect
TO 90 on tiger hunt the next day and TO
dinner afterward. The admiral was great
~ delighted at the plan aud so was !. The
next morning saw us ashore at an emily
hour, each with rifle, pistol, and strong,
sharp knife, for one may expect TO need all
sorts of weapons in Tiger hunt. Sir Rich
ard, the was baronet,) met us in very
good spirit, and said that the natives liy-
ing outside Of the eastern quarter of the
town had been very much scared the night
before by big, old, man-cating tiger, who
had been seen proving rouud-''and when
they have once had a outlet on native"
said he, ina cheerful tone as If a native
were sheep, "lhcy always prefer that kind
Of meat nflcrward. We will sec If we can
not put an end 10 his fun"
We drove, in Il light dog cart, several
miles out Of the city, to spot where we
were to find our elephant, and meet two
gentlemen who had also been invited.
They seemed pleasant enough, aud we took
a glass of beer together, while Sir Richard
stepped out TO see after the elephant. Pret.
ty soon he came back, rubbing his hands.
and remarked that our nag seemed to be a
little out of sorts, but he thought she would
come round all right.
forgot TO tell y5u in the right place that
they hunt tigers here with the elephant.
The latter rates them rs his mortal enemy,
and always fights them iuriousy. The
hunter sits in the how dab on the back of
the elephant, and while that faithful ami.
NAL amuses the tiger with lively play of
feet and tusks, he shoots the tiger when
ever lie can get good chance. This might
seem comparatively safe way of doing ii ;
but often the tiger gets dreadfully excited
and climbs the elephants back, in which
case lie is likely TO claw The l'untcr very
sharply.
Our ell ephant was a 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 as l
caught sight Of her, | saw she was very
cross. Half a dozen natives clustered
round, held the ladder against her side.
and the work Of mounting commenced.
Ii was work. If Il man missed his chance
it was all up with him. had rather beach
a boat in heavy soa than get over tho
high sides of a howdah with pluneing ell
ephant. II admiral, as ranking officer,
went first. Being the first, there was no.
body 10 report exactly how he got in and
lie kept a discreet silence ON the subject /;
but / saw his elderly heels doing some
wild work in the air as he vanished over
the side, and also saw him examine his
left epaulet, as If be thought il might have
SD flered from rough contact with some
thing; his cap was all on one side, in a
most undiciplined manner; so am pretty
certain he landed on his head and len
shoulder. However, he looked out and
said: Come on, Captain Atkins" with
an air of entire composure; aud up I start
ed. The ladder staggered, the elephant
danced. l grasped the edge of the howdah,
got one leg in the air ready FOR jump, re-
ceived a violent buffet 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. Derisive laugh.
ter 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 Englshmen, and
the admiral and watched with considera-
BILE interest to see what he would do. An
acrobat would have found it difficult to
come up that ladder had no idea an ele.
phant could move 50 quickly. Tho En-
glish man was about half way up when the
ladder swayed irightfully. Come on"
we cried, "now is your chance; 1t il very
easy, now" Poor fellow he tried to take
heart, and gave one plunge ahead, grasp
ing at the side of the howdah.
Alas he missed it, slid away To the stern,
hung for a moment d1uLtfully balanced on
the elephants Group, and then slipped
down her hind leg to the ground, where
the enraged beast, with ierocious squeals,
turne d round and chased him until he took
refuge behind big tree. He was content
ed to remain on the ground then, and did
not join us in our expedition. The other
Englishman was an amy officer who had
seen such things before; but, in spite of
his best endeavors, he flatiened his nose
against the side of my head, making me
thankful his nose was the soller, and put
his foot in my lap with emphasis. Lastly
came Sir Richard, fat, puffy and dignifed
At least twenty keepers and natives were
pat hnrnh rnnaI for, l,.l ,,,l,n
two hours trying 10 get aboard, holding
the ladder firm and trying TO soothe the
vexed beast. Sir Richard was plucky, but
he got no better treatment than the 10 It of
us. In he came, dying headforemost,
struck on the floor, partly in heap, partly
spread round on us and good deal broken
up by the process; we had some difficulty
in Strengthening him out and getting him
INTO place. He came out cheerful, though,
and presently beamed upon MS as polite as
ever. Then trembling native essayed 10
pass our rifles TO us. This required very
nice treatment, for the elephant thought
that so many sticks going up her side was
a sure sign of conspiracy against her, and
danced perfect hornpipe with double
shuttle combination, which sent the last
rifle flying over our heads until tree top
caught it and twig cooked it and fired it
off. We had 10 leave the rife, although it
made US one gun short.
"Glye way, ALL" cried Sir Richard in
Hindoostanee, or words to that effect. The
elephant apparently did give way all re-
straint she might have exercised before
The mahout was in his place astride her
neck, and he gave her an awful prod with
his iron-pointed stick, which ought to have
brought her to reason; but the unlucky