The Rifle and Hound in Ceylong | Page 9

the thunder rolls among the towering

forests or the wind howls along the plains. He gazes far, far into the
distance, where the blue mountains melt into an indefinite haze; he
looks above him to the rocky pinnacles which spring from the level
plain, their swarthy cliffs glistening from the recent shower, and
patches of rich verdure clinging to precipices a thousand feet above him.
His eye stretches along the grassy plains, taking at one full glance a
survey of woods, and rocks, and streams; and imperceptibly his mind
wanders to thoughts of home, and in one moment scenes long left
behind are conjured up by memory, and incidents are recalled which
banish for a time the scene before him. Lost for a moment in the
enchanting power of solitude, where fancy and reality combine in their
most bewitching forms, he is suddenly roused by a distant sound made
doubly loud by the surrounding silence--the shrill trumpet of an
elephant. He wakes from his reverie; the reality of the present scene is
at once manifested. He stands within a wilderness where the monster of
the forest holds dominion; he knows not what a day, not even what a
moment, may bring forth; he trusts in a protecting Power, and in the
heavy rifle, and he is shortly upon the track of the king of beasts.
The king of beasts is generally acknowledged to be the 'lion'; but no
one who has seen a wild elephant can doubt for a moment that the title
belongs to him in his own right. Lord of all created animals in might
and sagacity, the elephant roams through his native forests. He browses
upon the lofty branches, upturns young trees from sheer malice, and
from plain to forest he stalks majestically at break of day 'monarch of
all he surveys.'
A person who has never seen a wild elephant can form no idea of his
real character, either mentally or physically. The unwieldy and
sleepy-looking beast, who, penned up in his cage at a menagerie,
receives a sixpence in his trunk, and turns round with difficulty to
deposit it in a box; whose mental powers seem to be concentrated in the
idea of receiving buns tossed into a gaping mouth by children's
hands,--this very beast may have come from a warlike stock. His sire
may have been the terror of a district, a pitiless highwayman, whose
soul thirsted for blood; who, lying in wait in some thick bush, would
rush upon the unwary passer-by, and know no pleasure greater than the

act of crushing his victim to a shapeless mass beneath his feet. How
little does his tame sleepy son resemble him! Instead of browsing on
the rank vegetation of wild pasturage, he devours plum-buns; instead of
bathing his giant form in the deep rivers and lakes of his native land, he
steps into a stone-lined basin to bathe before the eyes of a pleased
multitude, the whole of whom form their opinion of elephants in
general from the broken-spirited monster which they see before them.
I have even heard people exclaim, upon hearing anecdotes of
elephant-hunting, 'Poor things!'
Poor things, indeed! I should like to see the very person who thus
expresses his pity, going at his best pace, with a savage elephant after
him : give him a lawn to run upon if he likes, and see the elephant
gaining a foot in every yard of the chase, fire in his eye, fury in his
headlong charge; and would not the flying gentleman who lately
exclaimed 'Poor thing!' be thankful to the lucky bullet that would save
him from destruction?
There are no animals more misunderstood than elephants; they are
naturally savage, wary, and revengeful; displaying as great courage
when in their wild state as any animal known. The fact of their great
natural sagacity renders them the more dangerous as foes. Even when
tamed, there are many that are not safe for a stranger to approach, and
they are then only kept in awe by the sharp driving hook of the mohout.
In their domesticated state I have seen them perform wonders of
sagacity and strength; but I have nothing to do with tame elephants;
there are whole books written upon the subject, although the habits of
an elephant can be described in a few words.
All wild animals in a tropical country avoid the sun. They wander forth
to feed upon the plains in the evening and during the night, and they
return to the jungle shortly after sunrise.
Elephants have the same habits. In those parts of the country where
such pasturage abounds as bamboo, lemon grass, sedges on the banks
of rivers, lakes, and swamps, elephants are sure to be found at such

seasons as are most propitious for the growth of