The National tribune., 1899-08-24

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harm, and if it had not been for an amaai:t
Of ableness hard to appreciates we
should have heard about his exploits long
before.
These natives no doubt talked of sending
word to us; yet it ended in talk. One who
knows them can make certain OF what
must have been said-can hear the winding
I'D of their idiotic discussions. "Al, broth
ers. what is the use? Truly, these infidels
with big guns might come; but would this
hiring hack those who are lost? Was it not
their destiny to perish? Had it not been
written that Jaysookdas should be mashed,
Hidavut get gored, and Bunwun have his
neck broken? What talk is this about
averting fate by the aid of unbelievers!"
Leaving camp" said Lester, Il struck
off northwards and got into very bad coun-
try for marching. There were several
parallel spurs with perfect network OIL
gorges between them. 1t was an almost
impracticable hunting ground; yet we saw
plenty of signs-deer slots innumerable.
and many tiger pugs.
"As elephants were our game, however,
we did not follow these latter. To beat
such labyrinth would have needed An
entire brigade, and stalking there, apart
from other objections, was too uncertain.
This rough belt had to be crossed before
getting to any villages-they lie princi-
pally in the main Satpura Valleys, mere
sprawls of huts, and on reaching them we
found their populations as uncomfortable
as cats in a rain.
"The first settlement was half dismantled,
and never saw such scared wretches as its
people Not without cause, either, for they
had a terrible experience. That beast
wrecked houses as easily as he went
through plume grass, tamarisk, and camel
thorn to make his attack. 1t was uneX-
pected, of course; such people never provide
against danger. The elephant might have
been a thousand miles away. for all the
precautions they put in force; though
everybody knew of his presence there
abouts. and ought to have anticipated an
assault. Nevertheless, when he burst upon
them they were utterly helpless, and suf-
fered accordingly. Several got killed; one
unfortunate wretch having his limbs torn
off.
Their village huntsmen, 1t appears, gath
cred two or three men with old guns, who
fired into him from rock as he stormed
psioI. 4No SNou Souiu possibly COIlc Oh IS,
but probably much evil. At all events, he
went off, screaming with rage, and If the
devilish creature does not revenge his hurts
upon them, he is certain to do so somewhere
else.
when these miserables crawled out of
holes, climbed down the trees on which they
had taken refuge and struggled in from
surrounding jungles, every man wanted to
tell his story at the same time. You know
how it is with Orientals, nothing comes be-
tween apathy and Mysteries. Well, ,Iatur-
ally, cursed them into silence and atten-
tion, or / might have been there till now,
while they jabbered, made pooja, howled
over their dead, and did no single thing
which would have prevented similar
catastrophe from occurring next day.
Anticipating what has now taken place,
you remember, we tried at first to bribe
these fools into taking some thought for
their lives, and they probably derided us as
soon as our backs were turned Now, how
ever, the buffers were in blue funk-ter-
fified into submission. So got gang to-
gether and sent them off after the elephant
tokeep track Of him; dispatched messengers
with warnings and offers of reward for news
all over that district; then started back i'm
mediately. This infe- igrute must be
killed. It is not trifing urdertakin,-
but 1t has to lie dore, and without rei;niie
intelligence what chance Of Il Wail-