The Cliff Climbers | Page 9

elephant we have seen--and what else can it be?"
pursued Karl, no longer yielding to a belief in the supernatural
character of their nocturnal visitant--"it must of course have got into the
valley before us. The wonder is our having seen no signs of such an
animal before. You, Caspar, have been about more than any of us. Did
you never, in your rambles, observe anything like an elephant's track?"

"Never. It never occurred to me to look for such a thing. Who would
have thought of a great elephant having climbed up here? One would
fancy such unwieldy creatures quite incapable of ascending a
mountain."
"Ah! there you would be in error: for, singular as it may appear, the
elephant is a wonderful climber, and can make his way almost
anywhere that a man can go. It is a fact, that in the island of Ceylon the
wild elephants are often found upon the top of Adam's Peak--to scale
which is trying to the nerves of the stoutest travellers. It would not be
surprising to find one here. Rather, I may say, it is not: for now I feel
certain what we have just seen is an elephant, since it can be nothing
else. He may have entered this valley before us--by straying up the
glacier as we did, and crossing the chasm by the rock bridge--which I
know he could have done as well as we. Or else," continued Karl, in his
endeavour to account for the presence of the huge creature, "he may
have come here long ago, even before there was any crevasse. What is
there improbable in his having been here many years--perhaps all his
life, and that may be a hundred years or more?"
"I thought," said Caspar, "that elephants were only found on the plains,
where the vegetation is tropical and luxuriant."
"That is another popular error," replied Karl. "So far from affecting
tropical plains, the elephant prefers to dwell high up on the mountains;
and whenever he has the opportunity, he climbs thither. He likes a
moderately cool atmosphere--where he may be less persecuted by flies
and other troublesome insects: since, notwithstanding his great strength
and the thickness of his hide, so small a creature as a fly can give him
the greatest annoyance. Like the tiger, he is by no means exclusively a
tropical animal; but can live, and thrive too, in a cool, elevated region,
or in a high latitude of the temperate zone."
Karl again expressed surprise that none of them had before that time
observed any traces of this gigantic quadruped, that must have been
their neighbour ever since the commencement of their involuntary
residence in the valley. Of course this surprise was fully shared by
Caspar. Ossaroo participated in it, but only to a very slight degree. The

shikaree was still inclined towards indulging in his superstitious belief
that the creature they had seen was not of the earth, but some apparition
of Brahma or Vishnu.
Without attempting to combat this absurd fancy, his companions
continued to search for an explanation of the strange circumstance of
their not having sooner encountered the elephant.
"After all," suggested Caspar, "there is nothing so strange about it.
There are many large tracts of the valley we have not explored; for
instance, that wide stretch of black forest that lies at its upper end.
Neither of us has ever been through there since the first two days, when
we followed the deer all round, and went afterwards to examine the
cliff. For myself, I never strayed that way while hunting--because I
always found the game in the open grounds near the lake. Now the
elephant may have his lair in that piece of forest, and only come out at
night. As for tracks, no doubt there are plenty, but I never thought of
looking for them. You know, brother, we have been too busy in making
our tree-bridge, and afterwards exploring the cavern, to think of much
else."
Karl admitted the truth of these observations; for it was as Caspar had
alleged. During the whole time of their residence in the valley, the
minds of all three, filled with anxiety about the future, had been keenly
bent upon devising some means of escape; and on this account they had
given very little attention to anything that did not in some way
contribute to that end. Even Caspar, in his hunting excursions, had not
gone over one-half of the valley; nor had these excursions been very
numerous. In three or four days he had procured as much meat as was
necessary. This had been carefully cured by Ossaroo, and formed the
staple of their daily food. Only upon rare occasions were the guns
afterwards used to procure a little fresh provision--such as a brace