The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-07-14
Hunted by al Elephant.

"Whcn | first went out to India" said
the Ma jOr, leaning back in his chair,
"our regiment was stationed Mt some out
of-the-wny place up country, where big
game of every sort aboundel; and [
heard nothing else talked of Mt mess but
tigers and bears, till felt quite insig-
| niticant at being the only one who had
never shot anything worth talking about.
"NIy great ambition in those days was
ta T42S 42e z" S2tappt fGSt Is ths% ths% SgEs
thing to be had. Our fellows soon found
out my fancy, and, as you may think,
they made fun Of it most numerically.
$50 one night 1 took my elephant
anybody, and made straight for IL hollow
by the river side, where the beasts were
fond of coming to drink.
"I watched for good while without
| seeing any sign of them, and was begin
ming to get very tired, and rather snlky
to boot, when suddenly heard distant
crashing among the thickets, and then n
sound like tho blowing of cracked
trumpet, which had heard too often to
mistake for anything but what it was
| the cry of the elephant ! Sure enough,
in another minute the huge black mass
| stnlkcd ont from the shadow of the forest
into the full splondor Of the moonlight
| right past tho tree in which I was
perched.
81 had heard that the best spot to aim
at was the forehead, just above the trunk,
and so I did but being in q hurry to
make sure of my game, L fired wildly,
and of course made bad shot. A bad
one it was for me in every sense, for
instead OF the forehead my bullet grazcd
| the trunk itself, the tendcrcst and most
sensitive spot III an elephants body.
"rhc moment he felt the smart of the
wound he set up scream that went
through my head like steam whistle,
and came charging right down upon me.
Bang he came against the treo like an
express train, with n shock that almost
knocked me of my perch, and i'll trying
to save myself I let fall my gun. Then
he put his shoulder against the tree to
try and push it down, and for q moment
1 was really afraid he would; but, luckily
for me, it was q huge thick one, with
great roots that had dug into the earth
for yards round, and it proved little
too tough for Mr.. Elephant.
"But' when the beast saw that he
couldn't reach me he did go into fury,
and no mistake Hc stamped and
screamed until the whole place rang
again, and tore off the lower houghs,
thick as they were, as easily rs I'd break
II flower stem, trampling them to pieces
under his feet in u way that showed me
pretty well what had to expect if |
once fell into his clutches.
"By this time / had quite enough cX-
perience of elephant hunting, and would
have gladly given up MI hope of win
ming ivory" to find myself safe back in my
quarters. So long as I was hunting the
elephant it was all very WE'LL but when
the elephant took to hunting me didn't
find the sport quito SO amusing. | had
read plenty of such tales when | was at
school, and always longed to have an adj
venture of the sort myself, but now that
L had got one it somehow didn't feel sc
nice as I expected. Any way, here was
I and thorc was the elephant, and now
that had lost my gun the only thing fol
me to do, aa far us I could see, was to
stay where I was till one or the other OF
l,s got tired of it,
"Wcll, the elephant seemed to get
tired of it first, and just as the first
streak of dawn began to show itself in
the sky he turned round and walked lei
surely away For minute or two
heard him crashing among the thickcts
and then all was quiet again, rs if he'd
gone right away. .......,
"Now, thought T, is my time to de-
.. camp too, and down the tree I slipped
rs nimbly rs an acrobat. Bit I sool
,, found that I'd been reckoning withou
my host, for / had hardly touched
the ground when there came crasl
; like fifty mad bulls charging
through as many glass houses, and on
from the thicket, with his great white