hand barrel; therefore two escaped. I sent a
man into the water to find the dead calf, which he soon did, and hauled
it to the shore; and having reloaded, I proceeded to examine the hits on
the dead buffaloes. It was fortunate that I had reloaded; for I had no
sooner approached to within three or four yards of the cow that I
had left dying, when she suddenly sprang to her feet, and would have
charged, had I not killed her by a ball in the head from a light
double-barrel that I was then carrying. These animals had shown as good
sport as I had ever witnessed in buffalo-shooting, but the two heavy
rifles were fearful odds against them, and they were added to the list
of the slain. It was now late in the evening, and I had had a long day's
work in the broiling sun. I had bagged ten buffaloes, including the
calf, and having cut a fillet from the latter, I took a gun, loaded with
shot, from my horse-keeper, and gave up ball-shooting, having turned my
attention to a large flock of teal, which I had disturbed in attacking
the buffaloes. This flock I had marked down in a small stream which
flowed into the lake. A cautious approach upon my hands and knees,
through the grass, brought me undiscovered to the bank of the stream,
where, in a small bay, it emptied itself into the lake, and a flock of
about eighty teal were swimming among the water-lilies within twenty
yards of me. I fired one barrel on the water, and the other in the
air as they rose, killing five and wounding a sixth, which escaped by
continual diving. On my way home I killed a few snipe, till at length
the cessation of daylight put an end to all shooting.

The moon was full and shone over the lake with great brilliancy; the air
was cool and refreshing after the great heat of the day; and the chirp
of the snipe and whistling sound of the wild fowl on the lake were the
only noises that disturbed the wild scene around. The tent fires were
blazing brightly in the forest at about a mile distant; and giving my
gun to the horse-keeper, I mounted and rode towards the spot.

I was within half a mile of the tent, and had just turned round an
angle made by the forest, when I suddenly saw the grey forms of several
elephants, who had just emerged from the forest, and were feeding in the
high grass within a hundred yards of me. I counted seven, six of which
were close to the edge of the jungle, but the seventh was a large bull
elephant, who had advanced by himself about sixty yard