Cup of bitterness,
and retires again to his jungle haunts to die a lingering death from
some unskilful wound. The best shot must frequently miss by moonlight;
there is a silvery glare which renders all objects indistinct, and the
shot very doubtful; thus two animals out of three fired at will
generally escape wounded.
I was tired of watching by night, and I again returned to the
neighbourhood of Yalle. After a long ride through a burning sun, I went
down to the river to bathe. The water was not more than three feet deep,
and was so clear that every pebble was plainly distinguishable at the
bottom.
I had waded hip-deep into the river when my servant, who was on the
bank, suddenly cried out, 'Sar! sar! come back, sar! Mora! mora!' and he
pointed to some object a little higher up the stream. It was now within
ten or twelve yards of me, and I fancied that it was a piece of drift
timber, but I lost no time in reaching the shore. Slowly the object
sailed along with the stream, but as it neared me, to my astonishment, a
large black fin protruded from the water, and the mystery was at once
cleared up. It was a large SHARK about nine feet long.
In some places the water was so shallow that his tail and a portion of
his back were now and then above the surface. He was in search of grey
mullet, with which fish the river abounded; and at this season sharks
were very numerous, as they followed the shoals for some distance up the
river. My servant had been in a great state of alarm, as he thought his
master would have been devoured in a few seconds; but the natives of the
village quietly told me not to be afraid, but to bathe in peace, 'as
sharks would not eat men at this season.' I was not disposed to put his
epicurean scruples to the test; as some persons may kill a pheasant
before the first of October, so he might have made a grab at me a little
before the season, which would have been equally disagreeable to my
feelings. The novelty of a white skin in that clear river might have
proved too strong a temptation for a shark to withstand.
I never saw game in such masses as had now collected in this
neighbourhood. The heat was intense, and the noble forest in the
vicinity of Yalle river offered an asylum to all animals beneath its
shade, where good water and fine grass upon the river's bank supplied
their wants. In this forest there was little or no underwood; the trees
grew to an immense size and stood far apart, so that a clear range might
be obtained for a hundred yards. It was, therefore, a perfect spot for
deer-stalking; the tops of trees formed an impervious screen to the
sun's rays; and I passed several days in wandering with my rifle through
these shady solitudes, killing an immense quantity of game. The deer
were in such masses that I restricted myself to bucks, and I at length
became completely satiated. There was too much game; during the whole
day's walk I was certainly not FIVE MINUTES without seeing either deer,
elk, buffaloes, or hogs. The noise of the rifle did not appear to scare
them from the forest; they would simply retreat for a time to some other
portion of it, and fresh herds were met with in following up one which
had been disturbed. Still, there were no elephants. Although I had
upwards of fifty coolies and servants, they could not dry the venison
sufficiently fast to prevent the deer from stinking as they were killed,
and I resolved to leave the country.
I gave orders for everything to be packed up in readiness for a start,
after an early breakfast, on the following morning. The servants were
engaged in arranging for the departure, when a native brought
intelligence of a rogue elephant within four miles of the tent. It was
late in the afternoon, but I had not seen an elephant for so long that I
was determined to make his acquaintance. My friend B. accompanied me,
and we immediately started on horseback.
Our route lay across very extensive plains, interspersed with low thorny
bushes and wide salt lakes. Innumerable wild hogs invited us to a chase.
There could not be a better spot for boar-spearing, as the ground is
level and clear for riding. There were numerous herds of deer and
buffaloes, but we did not fire a shot, as we had determined upon an
interview with the rogue. We traversed about four miles of this style of
country, and were crossing a small plain, when our guide suddenly
stopped and pointed to the elephant, who was about a quarter of a mile
distant. He was standing on a little glade of about fifty yards across;
this was surrounded upon all sides but one with dense thorny jungle, and
he therefore stood in a small bay of open ground. It was a difficult
position for an attack. The wind blew directly from us to him, therefore
an advance in that direction was out of the question; on the other hand,
if we made a circuit so as to get the wind, we should have to penetrate
through the thorny jungle to arrive at him, and we should then have the
five o'clock sun directly in our eyes. However, there was no
alternative, and, after a little consultation, the latter plan was
resolved upon.
Dismounting, we ordered the horse-keepers to conceal the horses and
themselves behind a thick bush, lest the elephant should observe them,
and with this precaution we advanced, making a circuit of nearly a mile
to obtain the wind.
