The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-11-15

mounted we could have scattered and
outrun him, but we were all on foot,
and our only safety was in sticking 70
the grove. When we heard him COM
ing we dodged right and left and hur-
ried deep into the grove. The old fell
low had the eyes of a lynx, and, wheel
ing from his first charge, he seemed
determined TO hunt US all down Each
one OF US lodged on our own account,
thus distracting his attention, but he
finally pursued one of the natives so
closely that the man had to take to a
tree. He didn't have his choice,
either, and was unfortunately driven
to shelter in a tree about as large
around as a mans body. He was
barely out of reach when the mad
brute arrived at the trunk. / was in
q much larger tree about forty feet
away, and could plainly see the move
ments Of the beast He was an old
bull, carrying a large pair of tusks,
and he was mad all over. He tried
hard to push the tree over, and though
he could not succeed, he shook the
native around so as to give him a bad
fright.
In order to call the brute off l fired
at him several times with a revolver.
Each bullet hit him, but of course did
no damage. He. however, refused to
leave the tree. and after standing for
moment in thought he put his shoul-
der against it, surged forward. and,
after swaying back and forth half a
dozen times, the tree broke short of
about ten feet from the ground. The
native was expecting it, and as the
top crashed through the trees he
caught at n limb and pulled himself
into large tree. The elephant soon
became aware of his escape, and like
wise recognized the fact that all of us
were out of his reach, and. after
trumpeting his disappointment, he
slowly retired and gave US opportunity
to come down We left the grove as
quietly as possible, and made haste
back to camp We must move at once.
The rogue elephant does not travel
about much. and his being in the
grove was menace to US. Should he
discover our camp he would attack US
othaud- We at once hitched up our
teams, struck our tents, and removed
10 q grove four miles away. While
not entirely safe here, we might es-
cape observation On two sides of us
the approach was marshy, while on
the others 1t was rather broken. Next
day after our removal it rained.
and none of US left the grove.
On the morning of the second dav.
just as we were rolling out of our
blankets, \ cry from half a dozen
natives alarmed the camp As / rose
mp and saw them looking to the west,
/ turned my eyes in that direction,
and beheld a sight which made my
hair stand on end. That rogue
elephant was on the plain about half
u mile cway and making a bee line
for our camp. He was swinging his
trunk in an-angry way. and his speed
was something terrific. Three or
four of Us sprang to our rifles. but he
would have been among us before we
could have fired shot had not an ac-
cIdent happened tie charged at us
over the marshy ground, and two
hundred feet from the wagons the
ground grew so soft that he
sunk to his knees, houndered ahead q
lew feet and then rolled over on his
left side. He was out of breath with
his run and his fall. and then was the
time to take him As he lay there
roaring his dismay and anger. we got
on. the ropes and chains and dashed
for his legs. We got nOoses over both
hind legs and carried the free ends 10
the nearest tree, and then we had the
old fellow for sure. He was so mad
that he actually shed tears. and he
trumpcted until he tired his machine
out After we had him fast every
man cut stick, and for two hours we
beat every part Of the beast we could
reach Moreover, we walked on
him, kicked him, called him
names, and degraded him in every
possible way This was by the advice
OF the natives. who said it would soon
break his spirit and cause him to give
up All day long the monster lay on
MS side in the muck, boiling over with
rage, but helpless. He put in the
night there, too, and next morning his
spirit was broken. We cast the moose
free from one leg, got pry under his
hip, and after an hours hard work
put him on his feet and got him to
solid land. The fight had all been
taken out Of him, and he would cover
whenever any one shook a club at him.
When the natives washed him up a
dozen great scars were revealed on his
shoulders and flanks as proofs that he
was fighter, and my head man, who
had lived in the elephant country all
his days, computed the beasts age at
one hundred and ten years,
No animal becomes docile and
tractable as quick as the elephant.
He must first be conquered by fear,
and when once he gives in you have
only an occasional tantrum to look out
for. We kept right at our captive,
logging and bulldozing and giving
him to understand that we were boss,
and At the end of three days he was
rs humble as pie We could make no
use of him as a hunter, rs We had no
rig. and as none OF the men had had
and experience in driving an elephant;
but we should have no trouble in get
ting him to the coast. and he was worth
several thousand dollars.
1t was ten days after his capture
that one of our scouts brought word
that troop of elephants had appeared
in the forest. We had suspected this
by the uneasy movements of our cap
tive. Itdid not seem possible that he
could scent his kind four or five miles
away, but his actions went to prove
that such was the case. We had him
securely fastened by one hind leg. but
he did not try TO break away. On the
contrary. he acted vexed and out of
sorts. and now and then uttered a
blast Of defiance 1t was easy to see
that he would have a hostile greeting