第30章

`To their horror the elephant slowly lowered her in his trunk till near the ground, when he gradually again raised her, and, bringing her head into his mouth, a report was heard like the crack of a whip--it was the sudden crushing of her skull.Tearing the head off by the neck, he devoured it; and, placing his forefoot upon the body, he tore the arms and legs from their sockets with his trunk, and devoured every portion of her.

`The women rushed to the village with the news of this unnatural carnage.

`Doolana and the neighbourhood has always been famous for its elephant-hunters, and the husband of this unfortunate girl was one of the most active in their pursuit.The animals are caught in this country and sold to the Arabs, for the use of the Indian Government.

`The news of this bloody deed flew from village to village; war to the knife was declared against the perpetrator, and preparations were accordingly made.

`Since the murder of this girl he had taken up his abode in a small isolated jungle adjoining, surrounded by a small open plain of fine soft grass, upon a level sandy soil.

`A few days after this act, a hundred men assembled at Doolana, determined upon his destruction.They were all picked elephant-hunters--Moormen; active and sinewy fellows, accustomed to danger from their childhood.Some were armed with axes, sharpened to the keenest edge, some with long spears, and others with regular elephant ropes, formed of the thongs of raw deer's hide, beautifully twisted.

Each division of men had a separate duty allotted.

`They marched towards the small jungle in which the rogue was known to be; but he anticipated their wishes, and before they were within a hundred paces of his lair, he charged furiously out.The conflict began in good earnest.The spearmen were in advance, and the axemen were divided into two parties, one on either flank, with an equal number of ropemen.The instant that he charged the whole body of men ran forward at full speed to meet him; still he continued his furious onset, undismayed by the yells of a hundred men.The spearmen halted when within twenty yards, then turned and fled; this had been agreed upon beforehand.The elephant passed the two flanks of axemen in pursuit of the flying enemy; the axemen immediately closed in behind him, led by the husband of the murdered girl.By a well-directed blow upon the hind leg, full of revenge, this active fellow divided the sinew in the first joint above the foot. (Since this was written I have seen the African elephant disabled by one blow of a sharp sword as described in the "Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia.") That instant the elephant fell upon his knees, but recovered himself directly, and endeavoured to turn upon his pursuers; a dozen axes flashed in the sunbeams, as the strokes were aimed at the other hind leg.It was the work of an instant: the massive limb bent powerless under him, and he fell in a sitting posture, utterly helpless, but roaring with mad and impotent fury.The ropemen now threw nooses over his trunk and head; his struggles, although tremendous, were in vain; fifty men, hanging their weight upon several ropes attached to his trunk, rendered that dreaded weapon powerless.The sharp lances were repeatedly driven into his side, and several of the boldest hunters climbing up the steep ascent of his back, an axe was seen to fall swiftly and repeatedly upon his spine, on the nape of his tough neck.

The giant form suddenly sank; the spine was divided, and the avenging blow was dealt by the husband of his late victim.The destroyer was no more.The victory was gained without the loss of a man.'

The natives said that this elephant was mad; if so it may account in some measure for the unheard-of occurrence of an elephant devouring flesh.Both elephants and buffaloes attack man from malice alone, without the slightest idea of making a meal of him.This portion of the headman's story I cannot possibly believe, although he swears to it.The elephant may, perhaps, have cracked her head and torn his victim to pieces in the manner described, but the actual 'eating' is incredible.