Year: 1875

, |
, ly heels doing some wild work in the nj,


as ne vanished over the side, and [ ais,


saw him examine his left epaulet, as If h,
thought it might have suffered from rougl
contact with something; his cap was all or
, one SIDE, In most undiscipliued manner


so l am pretty certain he landed on his
mead and left shoulder. However, he


looked out and said; Come on, Captain
Atkins, with an air of entire composure
anu up l started. The ladder staggered,
the elephant danced. | grasped the edge
OF the howdah, got one leg In the air ready
FOR jump, received violent buffet from
the top round OF the ladder. and bump /


went on The floor OF the howdah, my feet


very near the nose of my superior officer


anu my coat pockets entirely reversed.


DeIlslVe laughter was heard from all sides


as changed round, in which could not


help joining myself. Then came the turn


OF the third man. He was one of the Eng


iishinen, and the admiral and watched


Win considerable interest to see what he


would do. An acrobat would have found


IL diihcult to come up that ladder / had


no idea an elephant could move so quickly


Inc Engiishman was about half way up


when the ladder swayed frightfully.


come on,' we cried Now is vonr


chance; 1t is very easy, now" Poor fell


low! he tried to take heart, and gave one


plunge. ahead, grasping at the side of the


howdah.


Alas. he missed 1t, slid away to the


stern, hung for moment doubtfuly bal


anceu on the elephants Group, and then


shipped down her hind leg to the ground


where the enraged beast, with ferocious


squeals, turned round and chased him un.
III ne took refuge behind a big tree. He


was contented to remain on the proud
then, and did not join US in our expedition
| The other Englishman was an army Of


ficer, who had seen such things before


but, in spite of his best endeavors, he fiat.
| tened MS nose against the side of nv head
making me thankful his nose was the
softer ana put his foot in my lap with en-
| phasis. Lastly came Sir Richard. fat
| puffy and dignified. At least twenty keep.
ers and natives were now gathered round
| Tor we had been about two hours trying to
get aboard, holding the ladder firm and
! trying 10 sooth the vexed beast Sir
Richard was plucky, but he got no better
treatment than the rest of US. In he
| came, flying headforemost, struck on tho
floor partly In heap, partly spread round
on us and good deal broken up by the
| process I'VE had some difficulty in straight.
ening him out and getting him into pl ace. !
lie came out cheerful, though. and pres
| entity bcamed upon us as polite a. eyer
Then trembling native essayed to mass
our rifles up TO US. This required very
| nice treatment, for the elephant thought
Thar so many sticks going up her side was
sure -lSn OF conspiracy against her /
and danced perfect hornpipe with a |
double-shuitie combination which sent th. |
last rifle flying over our head, until tree |
top caught 1t and a twig cooked il and
hred II on. We had to leave that rifle, al. |
though II made us one gun short


MI


tlindostan. or words To that effect The
elephant apparently did give way all re-
siraint she might have exercised before
The mahont was IN his place astride OF her
neck ana he gave her an awful prod with
his iroii-pointed sttck.wnich ought to have
brought her To reason: but the unIuckv
thing of that ride was that everything ~.
did TO make matters better only made
them worse. Feeling the prod her skull
'"f III. fhrsw her trunt L. 10 the al.
engine, aud started of In AN opposite di-
rection to the one we wanted to follow at
rafting pace-at least it ratified us
never was on nag that had such gait
before. Sir Richard looked as little dis
turbed as he could, and said in a serene
voice, This is the largest and finest ele-
phant belonging TO the company, but she
is rather young and Il little frisky some
times thought 50, for at that moment
u.
her pace In the least or trying TO follow
any path, smash we went among boughs
and trees and great swinging vines any
one OF which getting eutan gled in the how
dab would have pulled it OFF and left us
hanging on limb like monkeys in cage.
We rocked and shook on top OF our NOV
Ing mountain of flesh, one moment tossed
Into heap in the middle, the next cling
ing wildly TO the sides of the howdah as
some great vine or branch came thrusting
in ready 10 tear us out, and all the time we
had TO keep sharp lookout for our rifles
TO see that they did not get cooked or fired
of as they shook round with US.


To diversity matters the enragcd beast,
getting madder and madder, and more
and more frishy, began TO drag up small
trees and wave them round as one would
fly brush, dropping them, with entire
recklessness as TO where they fell whenev-
er she saw another that struck her fancy.
One of these little brushes ground of the
army oihcers cap and sent me whiZZing
over upon the breast Of my esteemed friend
Sir Richard knocking all the wind out


him, and the poor mahout, sitting out H.


front With no protection, was almost cap
sized every other minute. saw him. in the
intervals of the shaking up | was getting
myself, hanging desperately to one of the
stumpy hairs that grow few and far be-
tween on an elephants forehead swinging
TO and fro, but manfully prodding with his
stick and shouting Justify to the enraged !
beast. who did not mind a word he said.
1t became evident that he had no control
over her. Things began to look serious.
We were at the mercy of the animal; she
might at any moment reach up her trunk,
pull off the mahout or the howdah, and
grind US to powder under her great feet.
The army officer took out his pistol |
''Shall we shoot herr" said he.


Sir Richard looked a little blank in spite |
of the cheerful air he had been keeping up, |
and said. in suggestive tone: Il have |
sometimes known it 70 take hundred and |
fifty rifle balls to kill an elephant, and be- |
| fore We could finish her sne would 20 into |
transports of rage and kill US. | suppose" |
| he went on in tone of sublime patience, |
''this is one fthe fits Of rage elephants |
often have, but they always get over them"


Il hope they do" said the officer, with |
the least touch of irony in his voice. |
| About how long do they last?"
Eefore Sir Richard could answer, the ell |
| ephant a. mad as ever. Numbered down a
small ravine full of mud and water at the
bottom, and stopped short so suddenly
that We were nearly shot out upon the ma
hout. Feeling that there was some comfort
il, her having stopped, we righted our
| sCiNCo- oh Aeiehoiu oCSoh say ouc 10
little nervous to-day, but have no doubt
We were never to know what it was he
did not doubt, for at tina: moment perfect
cascade of mud and water came raining in
| at the open sides of the howdah. She was
cooling her infamed body by pumping up
the muddy water through her trunk and
pouring it over herself-and US. 1t was
slightly absurd to see four human beings
possessed of average common sense sit
quietly and let mad elephant pump mud
dy water over them. and, serious as the


situation had been and still was, burst in
to shout OF daughters which the admiral


could not help joining as he tried to ram


handkerchief down his coat collar to keep


whole waterfall out of his rheumatic back


The two Englishmen wiped their faces of


and stared, and the army officer said, with


grim attempt OF appearing at ease, I'VE


really should have brought umbrellas"


Then we all roared, and at that, the ele-


phant with final pour over US which was
| nnt a,a,, do1 init. dropS rushQd nm ha