of chena cultivation, but which, having been again
deserted, was covered with a dense thorny jungle such as no man could
force his way through without being almost torn in pieces, but which
affords a secure retreat to elephants and all other wild animals. Close
to the edge of this the cultivated land of the village extended, and
people were stationed in watch-houses erected up among the branches of
the trees, shrieking and yelling, and beating drums, and making every
conceivable noise to drive back into the jungle the elephants who were
accustomed to take their morning repast off their fields of coracan, and
maize or millet. It was well known that the rogue elephant was near,
and so audacious had he become, that though driven off from one part, he
was very likely to appear directly afterwards in another. After waiting
for some time in the hopes of getting a shot at him from the trees, we
came to the conclusion that he suspected danger, and would not again
appear. Nowell, who took the lead, therefore resolved to follow him.
Dango was too keen about the matter to object, though, as he observed,
"Many mans get killed so."

I ought to have said that Dango had been so much with the English, and
so often out with English sportsmen, that he could express himself very
tolerably in English. Mr Fordyce, laughing, said that he should prefer
watching outside with the horses; so, accompanied by four of the most
active villagers, Nowell, Dango, and I prepared to penetrate through the
jungle. Our only mode of escaping the thorns was to crawl on our hands
and knees, trailing our rifles after us; and to do this without the
certainty of their going off, we had to secure the locks in cases. Then
we had the possibility of meeting unexpectedly with a cobra di capello,
or boa constrictor, or a wild boar, or more dangerous still, a bear,
besides running a risk of having our eyes scratched out, and other
little inconveniences of that sort. Our chief object was to avoid
making any noise.

After proceeding some way, we could hear the rustling sound of the
leaves, as the rogue, as we supposed, moved his head or perhaps only his
ears among them. I held my breath. There were no tall trees near
behind which we could run should he espy us. Our only chance of safety
was in bringing him down by a shot. We were well to windward of him,
and he had not yet discovered us. We all stopped, holding our breath,
with our rifles cocked, ready to f