us. I accordingly instructed Jali to creep quietly, by himself, into the bush, and to bring me information of their position. In three or four minutes he returned. He declared that it would be impossible to use the sword, as the jungle was so dense that it would check the blow; but that I could use the rifles, as the elephants were close to us. He had seen three standing together, between us and the main body of the herd. I told Jali to lead me directly to the spot, and, followed by Florian and the aggageers, with my gun-bearers, I kept within a foot of the little guide, upon whom I depended, as he crept gently into the jungle. We advanced stealthily, until Jali stepped quietly to one side and pointed with his finger. I immediately observed two elephants looming up through the thick bushes about eight paces from me. Determined to try fairly the forehead-shot, I kept my ground and fired a quicksilver and lead bullet from one of the large rifles. It struck her exactly in the center of the forehead. The only effect was to make the huge beast stagger backward, when, in another moment, with her immense ears thrown forward, she charged. I then fired my remaining barrel a little lower than the first shot. Checked in her rush, she backed toward the dense jungle, throwing her trunk about and trumpeting with rage. Snatching a large rifle from one of my trusty men, I ran straight at her, took deliberate aim at the forehead, and fired once more. The only effect was a decisive charge; but before I fired my last barrel, Jali rushed in, and with one blow of his sharp sword, severed the sinew of the hind leg. In an instant she was utterly helpless. I had fired three accurate shots and all had failed to kill. There could no longer be any doubt that the forehead-shot, so fatal to the Indian elephant, could not be relied upon with the African species. I now reloaded my rifles, and the aggageers quitted the jungle to remount their horses, as they expected the herd had broken cover on the other side of the jungle; in which case, they intended to give chase, and if possible to turn them back into the covert and drive them toward the guns. We accordingly took our stand in the small, open glade, and I lent Florian one of my double rifles, as he was only provided with one single-barreled elephant-gun. About a quarter of an hour passed in suspense, when we suddenly heard a chorus of wild cries on the other side of the jungle, raised by the aggageers who had headed the herd and were driving them back toward us. In a few minutes a tremendous crashing in the jungle, accompanied by the occasional shrill scream of a savage elephant, and the continued shouts of the aggageers, assured us that they were bearing down exactly in our direction; they were apparently followed, even through the dense jungle, by the wild and reckless Arabs. I called my men together, and told them to stand fast, and to hand me the guns quickly; and we eagerly awaited the onset that rushed toward us like a storm. For a moment the jungle quivered and crashed; a second later and the herd, headed by an immense elephant, thundered down upon us. The great leader came directly toward me, and received in the forehead the contents of both barrels of my large rifle as fast as I could pull the triggers. The shock made it reel backward for an instant and fortunately turned it aside, and the rest of the herd followed their leader. My second rifle was rapidly handled, and I made a quick shot with both barrels at the temples of two fine elephants, dropping them both stone dead. At this moment the "Baby" was pushed into my hand by another of my men, just in time to take the shoulder of the last of the herd, which had already charged headlong after its companions, and was disappearing in the jungle. 66 Bang! went the Baby," and around I spun like a weathercock, with the blood pouring from my nose, as the recoil had driven the sharp top of the hammer deep into the bridge. My "Baby" not only screamed, but kicked viciously. However, I knew that the elephant must be dead, as the half-pound shell had been aimed directly behind the shoulder. We had done pretty well. I had been fortunate in bagging four from this herd, in addition to the single one in the morning-total, five. Florian killed one, and the aggageers one-total, seven elephants. One had escaped that I had wounded in the shoulder, and two that had been wounded by Florian. Having my measuring-tape in a game-bag, that was always carried by one of the men, I measured accurately one of the elephants that had fallen, with the legs stretched out, so that the height to the shoulder could be exactly taken. From foot to shoulder, in a direct line, nine feet, one inch; circumference of foot, four feet, eight inches. We now left the jungle and found our horses waiting for us in the bed of the river by the waterside, and we rode toward our camp, well satisfied with the day's sport. SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. Biography.-Sir Samuel White Baker, the African traveler and explorer, was born in 1821, at Thorngrove, England. Baker studied civil engineering, and early in life, went to Ceylon. There, led by love of field-sports into the recesses of the island, he gave evidence of that love of adventure which was to make him famous as an explorer. In 1862, Baker, accompanied by his wife, visited Khartoum, and then ascended the White Nile. After a perilous journey, they succeeded in reaching a vast lake, which he named the Albert 'Nyanʼza. For this exploit, Baker was knighted by the Queen of England. The principal literary works of Baker are: "Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon," "The Albert 'Nyanza, Great Basin of the Nile," and "The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia." Notes.-The Indian species of elephant mentioned in the lesson, is found in Hin do stan', Cey lon', and other parts of the East Indies. Bagging is a word used by sportsmen, and referred originally to small game, which could be carried in a bag. In a broad sense, the word is applied to the capture of game of any size. Language. -A sentence is a thought expressed in words, and consists of the combination of a subject and a predicate. The predicate of a sentence is an action-word (verb) with or without modifying words; the subject is a single word or a collection of words, which taken with the predicate forms a complete thought. Sentence.-"The great leader came directly toward us." The subject of this sentence consists of the name-word (noun) "leader," modified by the words "great" and "the"; and the action-word "came," modified by "directly" and "toward us." The modifiers of a name-word are called adjectives; of an actionword, adverbs, 16.-GRADATIM.N de posed', conquered; laid aside. slain, put to death. as pire', long after. Heaven is not reached at a single bound; But we build the ladder by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, And we mount to the summit round by round. I count this thing to be grandly true: That a noble deed is a step toward God- To a purer air and a broader view. We rise by things that are under our feet; By what we have mastered of good and gain; By the pride deposed and the passion slain, And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet. We hope, we aspire, we resolve, we trust, When the morning calls us to life and light; But our hearts grow weary, and ere the night, Our lives are trailing the solemn dust. We hope, we resolve, we aspire, we pray, And we think that we mount the air on wings, While our feet still cling to the heavy clay. Wings for the angels, but feet for the men! We may borrow the wings to find the wayWe may hope, and resolve, and aspire, and pray; But our feet must rise, or we fall again. |