The Opelousas courier., 1895-03-23

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m/g~~%~~ toned up In
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N1AN@I NEHWEsNP used to be pas
aTMAA@MHlSHRJh sionately FOND
u WN MaMGgN of hunting. ]
~ M1[6S1SM hadn't beer
Vs. W. IszsrN out from Eng
~ LSNNW land long, and
the novelty of following big game had
not yet lost it's charms. My duties die
not occupy a great deal of my time
and / could often be absent a week OF
ten days without serious Inconvenience
to anyone. With a couple of natives
and my old Henry" ! would set forth
0 Mowcha, my elephant. Mowcha
was an exceptionally fine specimen OF
his race, endowed with all its virtues
and but few of it's faults. He was
strong, patient, sagacious and devoted
to his master. He had never been used
as a working elephant, but only for the
purposes of the chase. You should
have seen his unwieldy bulk making
its way noiselessly through the thick
jungle grass, his great feet lifted and
put down with the utmost caution, his
flexible trunk darting in all directions
to scent the game, and his small eyes
cleaning with excitement. He seemed
to know instinctively the moment to
A. - H.. L. .,1.11 - ~
muscle. You know it requires no small
amount of nerve to stand perfectly still
with a Bengal devil in a striped skin
charging at one, and too often it hap
pens that your well-directed shot is
spoiled by your elephants speedy re-
treat.
The natives deemed Mowcha super
human on account of his intelligence
and strength, and his mahout always
called him "My Lord the Elephant"
and treated him with the greatest re-
spect. You know the Hindoo belief,
that the souls of ones ancestors have
to reside for a period after death in
the bodies of animals till they have
atoned for their shortcomings on earth;
and, lest they might unwittingly treat
some of their grandfathers or great
grandfathers with d~isrespect, which
would be a criminal violation of their
religion, it is their custom to give to
each of the inmates of the jungle a
particular title, as, for instance, His
Highness the Tiger, Our King the
Lion, etc. So Mowcha was more often
addressed as My Lord the Elephant,
than by his real name.
He. was a great pet in the regiment,
and for the children at the station
there was no better sport than to climb
into the howdah,% shrieking with laugh
ter, and have a ride on Mowcha. He
seemed to enjoy it as much as they did,
and carried his burden with the great
est dignity. He was really handsome,
as elephants go, and looked his best
when adorned with his scarlet trap
pings and harness, and bearing the
howdah filed with merry children; and
1t was a pretty sight to see them after
ward bestowing upon him his reward
In the shape of pineapples, bananas
and mangoes, all of which he loved to
stow away in his capacious stomach.
I tell you these details that you may
understand my grief when he suddenly
disappeared night in early spring.
Ny Lord the Elephant 'had been rest
less for several days, his mahout in
formed me a~fterward, and that evening
he had managed to break his chain and
had vanished in the darkness. Whether
he had been spirited away by a clever
thief, or had decided that he had
worked for man long enough and would
now return to his native woods and the
society of his kind, we knew, of
course, but we missed him more than
one would think, and for some time the
cry among the children was: IF Now
cha were only here!'
/ tried a number of other elephants
for my hunting, but could not ELI his
place; and, as my duties increased
about that time, my,gun rarely left its
case, and my cartridge belt hung, un-
used, on the wall.
About three or four years later / was
invited to. spend the Christmas holidays
with an English friend who was giving
. house party at his place further up
in the hills. / easily obtained leave
and started with but one servant,
Ramon. He had formerly been Now
cha's mahout, but after that brute's
uncanny disappearance he had at
tached himself to me, and proved to be
. very handy fellow. We were mounted
on hardy little ponies, and the first
day made about fifty miles, spending
the night at the hut of one Of the for
est rangers who are stationed by the
government as guard along the edges
lof large and important forests. The
next day we plunged into the forest
itself. Toward midday we were
startled bv hearing a fearful, thunder
nj roaring, as of some monster in its
death agony. At thar distance / did
not recognize it as the voice OF any
wild animal / was acquainted with,
and turned to Ramon for an explana-
tion. His dark skin was bleached to
ashen gray.
ITS q herd OF elephants" he ex-
claimed, and they are sounding their
battle cry. II they come this way, it
means certain death. We cannot escape
Them
+ certainly seemed as though they
we're headed ii our direction, for the
hoiss grew louder. md we could feel