Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-12-16

seen thousands. 1t seemed to me that
he was charging down on us. The ma
tives crawled into the grass like snakes
and in my haste to shoot / whirled
around and probably saved my life by
falling into the river. If I had fired
and wounded him only, it would have
meant certain death but by good for
tune he gave no heed to us, but plung-
ed into the water so close to me that
the waves caused by the displacement
of his body went over my head.
The bank was rather steep. and /
was chin-deep, fascinated in watch
ing that angry monster splasnlns
across the river. l then noticed that
the big elephant on the island was
rapidly approaching to answer tne
challenge of the invader, and forget
ting the peril / was in-for crocodiles
were thick as rats under a Port Said
wharf, awaited what I knew would
be a terrible combat, and one that
not a dozen white men (if that many)
had ever seen-a fight between two
bulls for the possession Of females.
Blast upon blast shook the air, as
each of the jungle monsters trumpet
ed his defiance. The defender or the
herd met his rival more than hall
way, and when they came together II
was like the shock Of colliding loco
motives. In the meantime the natives
had recovered themselves and were
endeavoring to fish me out Of the river
but, while l was anxious to De out' !
gave them slight assistance, for !
would not turn my head for one mo-
ment from the furious struggle on the
near island. Recovering my plnoc-
ulars, which fortunately had not fal-
len into the river, viewed the hght
as plainly as one might witness
prize light less than twenty rows from
the ring. could see that while the
invader had driven his opponent back,
the smaller elephant had done erect
i've work, for where his tusk-some
four feet long-had struck, gusher
of blood was streaming forth. =,
The infuriated animals cllncheo
with their mammoth trunks, which,
like two monster snakes, writhed In
a deadly embrace. Back and forth
they struggled, and neither seemed 10
be gaining an advantage. For some
ten minutes they toiled and swung
to and fro, and then l could see that
the trunks were slipping apart-per-
haps fabricated by the flow of blood.
To my utter amazement when they
separated both elephants at the same
time turned and ran as If heelng
from each other. When they were
about thirty or forty yards apart they
wheeled, as by preconcerted slgnal,
and charged again. Head on heaa
they met with terrific force. Ihe
impact sent them both rearing into the
air on their hind legs. l could plain
ly see that they were profusely bleed
ing from new wounds opened py the
sharp tusks. Again and again they
ran from each other and then cnars,
ed. This was repeated five times, ana
the only sound was the crash they
made, and the blowing of their breaths
like heavy bellows.
After that they seemed to have
called a truce, for they stopped some
distance apart, apparently resting. 1
could see the blood streaming from
both of them from wounds three ana
four inches in diameter.
All of this time the females seemed
to be perfectly Indifferent to all that
was going on. They remained apart
continuing to browse while the mighty
males fought for their possession.
Now and then one looked up, but be-
yond that l could not see that they
were interested.
Less than five minutes after the
two monsters had called a truce !
saw the invader-the larger one OF
the two-slowly and unsteadily walk
ing away. He appeared to be thor-
oughly crushed. His head was down
and his trunk was wobbling right and
left. The blood was streaming from
him on all sides He plunged into the
river and swimming slowly across at
some distance below US and disap-
peared in the jungle. ! had been SO
intent on watching the combat that
had forgotten that a half gallon or
so of that blood was just what !
wanted, and I let the defeated chal-
lenger escape without making a ef-
fort to get him.
Again directing my attention to the
victor I heard him give loud grunt'
which brought the females to his
side. They came very close, in fact,
leaned against his sides as if to sup
port him, and truly he needed 1t, Tor
never have 1 seen more battered
animal than this one-covered with
blood and bleeding from many wounds
trying to walk and swinging on first
one foot and then another as though
IN great agony. Lie lSiiioiSS SSooo ~
him, looking for all the world as
though they were supporting him
and / believe they were.
1t seemed almost a crime for me TO
determine to bring down so valiant
beast, but I knew that he would not
live more than a few hours. I crossed
the river, worked my way into position
and fired. Instantly the females ran
away, but the big beast stood motion
less for almost sixty seconds and then
fell. He was dead. The females called
several times for their fallen spouse,
but they made no attempt to drive US
away, and soon we heard no more OF
them.
Looking over the carcass on one
side I found four great holes, each
large enough to put my fist in. We
could not turn him over to tell what
damage was done on the other side,
but have no doubt but that it was as
great. The tusks of the fallen mon
arch. which we carried off with us,
weighed 116 pounds
l have seen many remarkable
things in many different lands, but 1
do not believe that I have ever seen
so impressive and spectacular
as that titanic combat between those
two jungle monsters.-Dr. Chas. f.
de Mey