Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-08-17

A LIVING CYCLONE.
How An Electrical storm Affected an EIe
 phant Herd.


 How An Electrical storm Affected an Ele-
 phant Herd.
 A native brought in word carly in the morning that a tiger had killed and half eaten n bullock at u spot two miles away, and after breakfast a couple of us rode over to sec about making an ambush for the night. The tiger had dragged the car cass 200 feet from the spot where he had made his spring, and WIG found 1t lying under u tree. The ground for n distance of many rods was open, and constructing n platform in the tree we could not fail to sec tho tiger when hc came Gt night to finish his meal. During the day tho na- tives completed this work, and at sundown Colonel Fuller and I took up our stations. The platform was 16 feet from tho ground.
 The day had been terribly hot and close, and when darkness came we witnessed a curious phenomenon thunderstorm without thunder, wind or rain. Had we known what was coming WIG should of course have remained in camp. We had been on the platform half an hour when the first flash came, and during the next thrcc hours therc was not n period of darkness lasting five seconds. It was as if the whole country was on fire.
 At 9 o'clock tho tiger emerged from thickct 40 rods away and advanced to within 50 feet of us. It needed but one glance to show that he was badly fright encd. IIc crouched and trcmblcd, looked this way and that, ran to and fro and finally sat up and howled like n dog. He was n fair mark, but neither of us moved a hand. We had the rifles covered up with the blankets and were afraid to bring them out. After n few minutes the tiger turned tail and boltcd for the forest, and so still was tho night that we could hear him as he crashed through tho bushes u quarter of n mile away Fifteen minutes later tho colonel touched my arm and pointed downward without word. I looked over the edge of the platform and counted five elephants standing in group below us. They had come up from the north while we faced the south, but they had made no moro noise than so many jackals gliding about, and we knew they were terribly frightened by the electrical display.
 Fivc minutes after my first look four moro elephants came up, and tho new corners were greeted with q sort of moan | ing sound, and tho ninc huddlcd together like sheep corncrcd by a dog. One of them I rubbed against the trunk of tho trcc now and then with such weight that WIG every | instant expected the platform to be torn | apart, but fortunately for us tho poles had been well secured to the limbs by stout crcepers. Half an hour after our first count thero was herd of at least 30 clc- phants below us. Not one had been seen | in that locality for n week, and these ami | mals must have been on the move across | the country when tho storm began.
 ] Each and every ono must have been | aware of our presence, but aside from lift | ing their trunks and uttcring n sort oi l growl they did not menace us. From tu | 10 o'clock not n word was exchanged bc- | tween us on tho platform. Soon after 10, | when the display seemed to grow even | moro vivid, leaned forward tO ask the | colonel how long he thought it would last. A branch broke under mo with a rcpOrt like pistol, and then we witnessed some thing few men have ever had opportunity to bchold-a stampede of elephants. Al the crack of the limb every one of them | sounded n note of alarm, and with n cir | cling movement which made the earth trcmblc they dashed away to the east. l Well, we arc rid of thcm," I said tc the colonel.
 But heaven prCsrrvc our camp" hI replied. They Hr heading straight fol it, and unless the men arc wide awak" no | one of them will escape.
 It was midnight bCfurc the =: 'rm C,;IS''ti and it was briad daylight bCf"r,' We dIpS climb down and make our way tu camp The stampede Of the elephants had CnvCry front of h rutlS. They had turned Hsid for nothing but the largest tpCs. Smal | trcCS ard bushes had httn broken down q | uprOotctl, and the path l"ukCd lIk" that D n cyclone. We had n camp with four uili | ccrs, 20 natives and lu horses in it. with | wagon, n team of bulluCkS and provision for n month. Two of tho officers ,'SCHIHy by lCaping into n r5ivinc and four Of tls natives wCr, saved by the trunks uf llrr trees. Two horses wCr,' found in line for est next day, but all Cl~c went. The clc phants had burst upon them like n thUn dcrbolt and charged right over tn" camp Tents, wagon, horses, hulluckS, prri>iuu all had bccn trampl,d into the S0f earth, and with them Is human bCincs We found only fragments of them. Tn elephants, mad with tcrrur, must hav seized some of tho poor unfurtunHtCS ant whirlcd them about and dashed then down. Tho six who had escaped witt their lives could tell us nothing CXC,'p that thCrC' was n sudden rush, n might. trcmbling of the earth, n cry hCrc an' thcrC. It was all over in go sccundS. Thor were splintcrs and fragments hrrC an, thcrc, thcrc wcrc brukrn guns and bits q tent cloth and blankets, but uf tho uutii not so much as n water bottle or a hisCui escaped obstruction. M. QUAD