We quickly collected firebrands, and searched the
jungles, and shortly we arrived where a dog was barking
violently. Near this spot we heard the moaning of some animal
among the bushes, and upon a search with firebrands we discovered
the goat, helpless upon the ground, with its throat lacerated by
the leopard. A sudden cry from the dog at a few yards' distance,
and the barking ceased.
The goat was carried to the camp, when it shortly died. We
succeeded in recalling two of the dogs; but the third, that was
the best, was missing, having been struck by the leopard. We
searched for the body in vain, and concluded that it had been
carried off.
On the following day, we discovered fresh tracks of elephants at
sunrise. No time was lost in starting, and upon crossing the
river, we found that a large herd had been drinking, and had
retreated by a peculiar ravine. This cleft through the sandstone
rocks, which rose like walls for about a hundred feet upon either
side, formed an alley about twenty yards broad, the bottom
consisting of snow-white sand that, in the rainy season, formed
the bed of a torrent from the upper country. This herd must have
comprised about fifty elephants, that must have been in the same
locality for several days, as the ground was trampled in all
directions, and the mimosas upon the higher land were uprooted in
great numnbers: but after following upon the tracks for several
hours with great difficulty, owing to the intricacy of their
windings upon the dry and hard ground, we met with a sign fatal
to success,--the footprints of two men.
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