row valley, just suited to our purpose. On reaching
the ground we learned that there was, in the jungle, a `rogue'
elephant--that is, an old male, which had been expelled from the herd.
Such outcasts are usually very fierce and dangerous. This one was a
tusker, who had been the terror of the neighbourhood, having killed many
people, among them a forester, only a few days before our arrival.

"As these `rogues' are always very difficult to overcome, and are almost
sure to injure the khedda, or tame elephants of the hunt, if an attempt
is made to capture them, we resolved to avoid him, and devote our
attention entirely to the females and young ones. We formed a curious
procession as we entered the valley--rajah and civilians, military men
and mahowts, black and white, on pads and in howdahs--the last being the
little towers that you see on elephants' backs in pictures.

"Gun-men had been sent up to the head of the valley to block the way in
that direction. The sides were too steep for elephants to climb. Thus
we had them, as it were, in a trap, and formed up the khedda in battle
array. The catching, or non-combatant elephants, were drawn up in two
lines, and the big, fighting elephants were kept in reserve, concealed
by bushes. The sides of the valley were crowded with matchlock-men,
ready to commence shouting and firing at a given signal, and drive the
herd in the direction of the khedda.

"It was a beautiful forenoon when we commenced to move forward. All
nature seemed to be waiting in silent expectation of the issue of our
hunt, and not a sound was heard, the strictest silence having been
enjoined upon all. Rich tropical vegetation hung in graceful lines and
festoons from the cliffs on either side, but there was no sign of the
gun-men concealed there. The sun was--"

"Oh! bother the sun! Come on wi' the fight," exclaimed the impatient
Junkie.

"All in good time, my boy. The sun was blazing in my eyes, I was going
to say, so, you see, I could not make out the distant view, and
therefore, can't describe it," ("Glad of it," murmured the impertinent
Junkie); "but I knew that the wild elephants were there, somewhere in
the dense jungle. Suddenly a shot was heard at the head of the valley.
We afterwards learned that it had been fired over the head of a big
tusker elephant that stood under a tree not many yards from the man who
fired. Being young, like Junkie, and giddy, it dashed away down the
valley, trum