Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-01-25
MY LORD ELEPHANT.
Adventures Of an Enslishman IN the
Hill Country.
HoWCHA, THE WELL BELOVED.
After Passing Several Very Restless Days
He Took to the Jungle. But Later Saved
the Lives Of His Old Friends.

not YET iOSt us Cndrnns. MY uutS3 uth
not occupy a great deal of my time, and
l could often be absent week or ten
days without serious inconvenience to any
one. With couple of natives and my
old Henry l would set forth on Now
cha. my elephant. Mowcha was an ex-
ceptionally fine specimen of his race. en-
dowed with all its virtues, and but few
OF its faults. He was strong, patient,
sagacious, and devoted to his master. He
had never been used as working ele-
phant, but only for the purposes OF the
chase. You should have seen his un-
wieldly bulk making its way noise.essly
through the think jungle grass, his great
feet lifted and put down with the Ut
most caution, his flexible trunk dartlng
In all directions TO scent the game, ana
his small eyes cleaning with excitement.
He seemed to know instinctiyely the
moment to fire, and then he would not
move a muscle You know Il requires no
small amount OF nerve to stand perfectly
still with Bengal devil In striped skin
charging at one, and too often II happens
that your well-dlrecte1 shot is spoiled by
your elephants speedy retreat.
The natives deemed Mowcha superhu-
man on account Of his intelligence and
strength, and his mahout always called
him my lord the elephant and treated him
with the greatest respect. You know the
Hindoo belief-that the souls OF ones an
cestors have to reside for 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
grsndfathers with disrespect. which would
be a criminal violation of their religion, 1t
IL their custom to give to each of the in
mates OF the jungle particular title, as,
for instance. his hlghness the tiger, our
king the lion, &c. So Mowcha was more
often addressed as my lord the elephant
than by his real name.
HE WAS A PET.
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 laughter, and
have ride on Mowcha. He seemed to en-
ioy IL as much as they did. and carried
his precious burden with the greatest dig
nifty. He was really handsome, as ele-
phants go, and looked his best when
| adorned with his scarlet trappings and
| harness and bearing the howdah filed
with merry children, and 1t was pretty
| sight TO see them afterwards bestowing
| upon him his reward in the shape Of pine
apples, bananas, and mangoes, all Of
which he loved 10 stow away in his capa-
| clous stomach, says Our Animal Friend.
| tell you all these details that you may
] understand my grief when he suddenly
| disappeared one night In early spring.
| My lord the elephant had been restless
| for several days, his mahout informed
| me afterward, and that evening he had
| managed to break his chain and ha1
| vanished in the darkness. Whether ne had
| been spirited away by a clever thief, or
| bad decided that he had worked for man
| long enough and would now return 10 MS
| native woods and the society OF his Kind
| we never knew, OF course; but We missed
him more than one would think ana TOT
| some time the cry among the cnlldreh
| was: 'If Mowcha were only here"
| I tried a number OF other elephants for
| nv hunting, but could not fill his place
| and as my duties increased about tnal
dime. my gun rarely left It's case, and
| my cartridge-belt hung, unused, on Nhs
wall
| About three or four years later l was
invited to spend tGe CHRISTMAS hoil1ays
| with an English friend, who was giving
a house party at his place, further up 10
| the hills. l easily obtained leave, ana
| started with but one servant, 'Na'hoh
| He had formerly been Mowchas manout'
| but after that brute's uncanhy uisap-
pearance ne had attached himset 70 me
| ana proyei to be very handy teiiow'
We we're mounted on hardy little ponies
and the first day made about fifty miles,
| snending the night at the hut OF one oi
| the forest rangers, who are stationed oy
| the government as guard along the
| aayes of large and important iorests
lTbs next day we plunged into the iores
i,self Toward midday we were starleO
no hearing a fearful, thunderous ,0ai
Sng "a of some monster In us ueat'
a.Forv At that distance | did not recos
nIya II as the voice OF any wild ahihiai
los acquainted with. and turheu
Ramon for an explanation. rIs ""'
akin was bleaohe1 TO asnen gray.
"It's a herd of elepht nts, ne eA. go orS
"and they are sounding their pa'''e 4
II they come this way II means
death. We cannot escape thenn,
Ne"' TuE ELEPHANTS COMING.
| 7, certainly seemed as though the
~, headed In our direction, for IN
noIse grew louder, and we could ieei VI
e,,ound trembling beneath US at III
trampling OF many rect. - =
"EoIlow me sahib," cried Ramoh'
bs threw himself from the morse an
FASTENED TO one OF the larger trees, Wh'c
ba beyan TO ascend with the u'ihos
ranidity. I did the same, my proereS
being hindered. however, py my -
siding boots. We had no time TO secuf
our nonies. and the frightened ahiihaH
| 90 soon az they were released, spIah
nlmbly through the thlckets ana o'sai
peared. and with them. OF COURSE M va.
ished our only means OF escape ~.
the forest, even though the eiepha''
L
should pass us unharmed.
We reached our position OF satety non
too soon. | could see the heavy iore'
branches shaking violently ana soon
huge gray mass broke through, shail
hing along at a remarkable rate
speed, not twenty yards from u.s. an
screaming with vicious rage.
ssIts a rogue elephant, sahiD, sai
Ramon. srhey are chasing him from u
herd" o ,o
a hundred yards behind him came az
| other enormous figure, which was heaue
| straight for our place of refuge. AS o
| lightning flash I saw the horrible deat
that menaced us. already felt myse
| falling to the ground. In second NOR
| 10 be trampled to death under those III
| mense feet But at that instant l near
Ramon call out boldly: "Let-rah gay
| tie uONGlb. kbr SfNdh bNN
"Iet-rah, iet-rahw again he cried, am
10 my astonishment, the creature op'
dIently went down upon its knees
Ramon quickly descended, calling ~
to follow. Where a black leads, whi'
man does not lag behind. and down
went. did not understand how u
magical transformation had been enecte'
but as / turned and caught sight OF "
animal, comprehended II all; aronn
the great fore leg was chain' tne en-
| Of which still trailed on the ground. IN
quick eye of the native had seen II;
knew that the animal must nave Dee
in captivity at some time. and called OF
the word OF command, hoping that
would be obeyed He was not disaI
pointed: for although the small eye
attn cleaned with an ugly red light, an
the trunk waved mutinously In the al
the great creature had not forgotten n
former training. We approached MI
cautiously at first, but presently Ramo
rushed fearlessly up 10 the brute an
: petted him effusively, calling him b
every name OF endearment. "Ah. q
thou. my lord. the elephant! 'Tis tho'
| ,eader OF the heard. wiser than the WIS