The White Elephant; or, the Hunters of Ava and the King of the Golden Foot ... With illustrations by Harrison Weir

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We catch a Ljrd White Elephant."— Page 28(5. THE WHITE ELEPHANT OR THE HUNTERS OF AVA AND THE KING OF THE GOLDEN FOOT BY WILLIAM DALTON AUTHOR OF "THE WAR TIGER;" "THE WOLF-BOY OF CHINA." ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY HARRISON WEIR AND R. H. MOORE LONDON GRIFFITH, FARRAN, OKEDEN & WELSH (SUCCESSORS TO NEWBERY AND HARRIS) WEST CORNER ST PAUL'S CHURCHYARD AND SYDNEY, N.S.W. The Rights of Translation and of Reproduction are reserved. TO FREDERICK HENRY BROCKWELL, Esq., K. St. F. IN REMEMBRANCE OF MANY BYGONE HOURS PASSED TOGETHER IN PLEASANT DAY-DREAMS OF ADVENTURES BY FLOOD AND FIELD, THIS BOOK OF ADVENTURES IS MOST HEARTILY 5nscribe&, BY HIS VERY SINCERE FRIEND, THE AUTHOR. A FEW WORDS WITH MY READERS While reserving as my own secret the means by which I became possessed of Harry Oliver's autobiography, I deem it my bounden duty to the kind friends who so warmly received " The War Tiger," " The Wolf- Boy of China," and " The English-Boy in Japan," to im press upon their minds that Harry's description of notable persons, places, animals, plants, as well as the manners, customs, and superstitions of the semi-barbarous Bur mans, is substantially exact, as I myself have verified, by reference to the accounts given by ancient and modern travellers, among whom, for the reader's satisfaction or consultation, I may name, the old Merchant Ralph Fitch, the envoys Symes, Crawford, and Yule, the missionaries Saggermano and Judson, and the British officers Cox and Snodgrass.

William Dalton. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. My Parentage and early Adventures . . 1 1 II. My First real Trouble .... 29 III. I get an insight into Burmese Law, and am put in the Stocks ...... 39 IV. Our Lives saved by a Cannon Ball ... 50 V. I witness a terrible Scene, and am made a Pagoda Prisoner ...... 60 VI. I am chased by a Serpent, and taken by the Enemy . 71 VII. Wherein I am nearly bitten to death, and witness the punishment of a Serpent by a Monkey . . 84 VIII. A sad Story.— Antelope Slaying. — A Hermit's Cave . 100 IX. The Nine Princesses of the Silver Mountain . . 112 X. Chased by a Crocodile .... 123 XI. I hear the Story of a Despot, and have an Adventure with some Queer Fish .... 130 XII. I have a misunderstanding with some Buffaloes . 138 XIII. The White Ants cause Naon to meet with a Disaster 148 XIV.

A Fight with a Tiger .... 160 XV. A Wild Beast Combat ; we seek shelter from the Monsoon . . . . . CONTENTS. CHAP. PACE XVI. We are seized by the Enemy, but rescued by Mikee 187 XVII. A Rhinoceros Hunt ..... 200 XVIII. Mikee has his Fortune told by the Crows, and undergoes the ordeal of water . . . . 212 XIX. A Duel between a Crocodile and a Tiger . . 220 XX. A wonderful Cave, and a Brahmin Astrologer . 229 XXI. Mikee obtains news from the Nats about a White Elephant ...... 240 XXII. I narrowly escape falling into the Lion's mouth . 249 XXIII. Mikee proves himself a good judge of Elephants . 261 XXIV. A Herd of Wild Elephants . . . .271 XXV. We catch a Lord White Elephant . . .282 XXVI. I am sent as Ambassador from the Lord White Elephant ...... 289 XXVII. I visit the Earth-Oil Wells, and witness a Festival . 295 XXVIII.

Chapter I. My Parentage And Early Adventures

My name is Oliver, Harry Oliver ; I was born in Rangoon, the chief sea-port of the Burman Empire, which, until the English annexed the great provinces of Arracan, Chittagong, Assam, and the kingdom of Pegu (no small portion, you will find, if you glance at the map of Asia), was the largest and most warlike of those nations which, although from being geographically situated between India and China, are known as Indo- Chinese kingdoms, are in fact near akin to the great Malayan race which originally peopled the greater portion of the lands in, and bordering, the mighty Pacific Ocean. My father, who for many years before my birth had been settled in Rangoon as a merchant, had by his large dealing in teak timber and the petroleum, or natural earth-oil of the country, not only realized a considerable property, but by his honest dealings and kindly manners acquired the respect of his fellow merchants and the regard of the King's brother, the Prince of Prome, who, as lord, or what the Burmese call " eater," of the largest teak forest, was the greatest timber merchant in the empire.

As the prince resided chiefly at Ava, the capital, my father frequently visited his highness, with the double purpose of business and pleasure — namely, buying the before-mentioned pro ductions, and hunting tigers and elephants in the wild country to the west of the capital. The Burmese are one of the most warlike of Asiatic nations, and for centuries, so successful had they been in conquering neighbouring states, that their arrogance and belief in their invincibility knew no bounds ; indeed, jealous of the English power in India (of the greatness of which they were as ignorant as of geo graphy), they at one time entertained insane but serious notions not only of driving them from the great presidency of Bengal (a feat popularly supposed to be attended with no great difficulty), but absolutely of marching an army into London, although how they were to pass across the ocean to the white cliffs of Old England, was never very distinctly laid down by the courtiers who propounded the plan.

One of the kingdoms with which the "Golden Foot," as the King of Ava is termed, was at war, some years prior to the first war with the English, was Laos, a country situate between Burma and Siam. At the time when the contest between the Burmese and the Laosians was at its greatest height, my father happened to be paying a visit to the Prince of Prome at Ava. A party of Burmese soldiers succeeded in plundering one of the chief towns of the enemy, and brought many prisoners to the capital. Among these was a Laosian lady, whom my father purchased from her captors and married. — That lady was my mother. Such being my birth, you will not be astonished at finding the ease with which I made myself at home among the semi-barbarous Burmans, or took to an adventurous career, for you know " what is bred in the bone will not come out of the flesh."

Neither must you be surprised at the adventures themselves; for, truly, I can verify of my own knowledge that not only are there many lands and peoples of which our all knowing countrymen are yet ignorant, but that every day strange adventures happen in various parts of the world to persons who having neither time, inclination, nor taste to record them in book shape, a vast amount of entertainment, experience, and instruction becomes lost to the world. As my father was determined that his son should grow up with the muscles and mind of an Englishman, and far from the temptations and bad influences of Rangoon (which town is to China and Siam what Boulogne is to England — namely, the rendezvous or depot for insolvent debtors who have run away from their creditors), he sent me to London, consigned to the care of his only parent, my grandmother ; not, however, without a great, though loving battle with my mother, who at length gave her sanction to my de parture, provisionally, that my native nurse should accompany me to England.

Matters being thus arranged, the nurse was smuggled on board the ship in a large earthenware jar, for it is against the law for a native woman to leave the country; I followed, and after a rough and very long passage — for steamships were then unknown — my nurse and myself were carefully packed in an old hackney coach which stood in readiness in the East India Docks, and we were shortly afterwards delivered over to the charge of my grandmother. Now although it may seem disrespectful on my part, I cannot but believe, that my troubles dated from the time of my arrival ; for so great was my aged relative's dislike to foreigners, all of whom she thought to be created for the especial annoyance of Mr and Mrs John Bull, and to "that nasty negro-woman," as she per sisted in calling my blotting-paper-tinted, but good natured nurse, that to the time of my being sent " out of her way " (for that was the term she used for sending me to boarding-school), a day never passed without her giving me a good snubbing ; indeed, although I am bound to admit, it might have been in consequence of my undutiful and wild (for you will keep in memory that by birth I am half a savage) behaviour, I never felt happy with my grandmother.

One reason was, perhaps, that she persisted in calling my dear mother a black woman, although but for the peculiar twist of her short nose, and the tone of her voice, which made me understand that she intended it as an opprobrious epithet, I could not for the life of me comprehend why a black woman should not be as good as a white woman. As however you will care less to hear of my child hood than the adventures of my youth, which it is my purpose to relate, I will simply inform you that the few years passed in England were the most unhappy of my life; therefore you may imagine my delight when, on the very day I completed my thirteenth year, the day after the " break-up " of the last half at " Marathon House," Fulham, I received a letter from my father, ordering me to return to Rangoon by the first outward-bound ship.

Oh, how my heart bounded ! it was the first " break up" that I really enjoyed. How jollyT was when I made one of the fourth coach-load of boys going home for the holidays ! " Farewell hedges ! Farewell ditches ! Farewell all the Fulham witches ! " still rings in my ears, as on that cold winter's day, when these lines, which tradition stated to have been composed as a half-yearly anthem by some former head of the first form, were poured forth from the throats of my homeward-bound schoolmates. Then the bustle of preparation for my voyage — the tedious three months to wait before I could get a ship. Then, when the day came for my departure, and the old hackney coach that was to carry me, my old nurse, and the baggage to the dock, stood at the door, how my heart leaped for joy — indeed I almost loved my cross old grandmother — God bless the old lady's memory, for after all, perhaps it was her rheumatism that made her so queer-tempered.

Once on board, and the white cliffs of England fading from my sight, my whole mind was bent forward, thousands of miles across the great ocean to my father and mother's home, and for months my mind was thus stretched with anxiety, for in those days a voyage to the East was long and dangerous enough to form an epoch in a life. Tedious as our voyage would have been under ordin ary circumstances, it was rendered doubly so, as when the ship arrived off Madras, the captain was induced to convey a large quantity of stores to the Great Andaman, an island which, at that time, had not been many years chosen as a settlement, or penal colony, to which to send convicts from Bengal. By the way, you may remember that this island was originally chosen as the place of banishment of the last of the Great Moguls, the aged King of Delhi, but who has since been transported to the opposite coast of Rangoon.

Having shipped the stores, we again set sail, and in five days sighted the Great and Little Cocoa Islands, two small tracts of land which, although abounding with luxuriant cocoa trees, are so flat and swampy, and destitute of fresh water, that they are uninhabited. Once, indeed, some adventurers settled upon one of the islands with the hope of making a fortune by expressing oil from the cocoa-nut ; but the scheme was rendered abortive by the climate, which speedily destroyed one half of the party, and drove the remainder from the island in despair. Passing between the southernmost Cocoa and the north side of the Great Andaman, the captain, who had never before touched at the latter islands, kept a sharp look-out for the harbour, within which, upon a small island, is situated the British settlement of Port Cornwallis.

The next day, late in the afternoon, we made out an opening in the land, when the captain, notwithstanding it was not laid down in his chart, believing it to be the harbour, sent out a boat-party of six lascars and two Europeans to make soundings, and survey the opening. Scarcely, however, had the party proceeded half a mile from the ship than a north-east wind set in, which drove them forward with fearful velocity. " That boat will never live in such a gale," said the captain, alarmed, and straining his eyes towards the little craft, which, however, seemed to bear up bravely against the hurricane. " Hurrah ! they have made the harbour, if harbour it is," cried the mate. Suddenly the heavens grew dark as midnight ; every object more than fifty yards from the ship became obscured from our view, so nothing could be done but to await patiently the return of the boat party.

Our curiosity was not to be gratified that night, for as hours passed the boat remained absent ; that, how ever, was not to be wondered at, for so great was the darkness, and so strongly did the wind blow in shore, that no boat could have reached the ship. All, then, we could do was to commiserate the poor fellows for the long night they would pass on land at the risk of being overpowered by the savage natives, and await patiently the return of daylight. But imagine the consternation of all on board the next morning, when, although the winds had become hushed, and the sky clear — so clear that we could now with the naked eye trace the whole coast, nay, even the summit of the Saddle Peak Mountains, the dense forests, and, moreover, the small dark figures of the natives clambering among the rocks, no traces whatever of the boat or her crew were visible.

Many were the surmises as to the cause. " The lubbers have deserted," said one sailor. " They have been dashed through some narrow channel, and carried away by the current," said another. " These savage Andamaners are cannibals ; they eat men raw," said the mate. " Yes, without cooking, I've heerd say," put in the purser's mate, a young cockney on his first voyage. " The savages it is," exclaimed the captain, thoughtfully; then adding to the mate, "Man a boat, Mr Jones ; we may yet be in time to save the poor fellows." " Ay, ay, sir," replied the mate ; and in a minute or B so a boat was alongside filled with a dozen men armed with cutlasses and pistols. This was the first occasion of my spirit taking fire ; for no sooner did I hear this order than gliding down the hatchways into my berth, I snatched up a double barrelled gun, which I had bought as a present for my father, and had learned to use upon the voyage, and running up to the captain, said, as I touched my cap after the fashion of the two midshipmen on board, " I join, sir." " Go to your cabin, sir," was the disagreeable reply.

" I join, sir," I repeated, for my blood was up. " Take this lad below," said the uncompromising captain, as he went forward. That going forward, however, was my opportunity; for no sooner was his face turned from me than I was over the sides and in the boat, which was manned and awaiting the mate. " Blow me if this isn't mutiny," said Davis the cox swain ; but as he laughed, as if in admiration of my boldness, I took courage. " Let me lie down astern till Mr Jones is on board," said I ; and the sailors, who always admire pluck, made way for me. Mr Jones came into the boat, and I remained in the sternsheets without his knowledge till we had reached within half a mile of the shore, when seeing it crowded with natives, whose vociferations, antics, and the bows, spears, and other primitive weapons which they flourished defiantly, evinced sufficient proof of their hostile intentions, he said, " Look ahead lads ; the varmint mean mischief."

No sooner was this caution delivered than, burning with indignation at the sight of the wretches who I believed had killed and eaten the boat's crew, I was upon my knees with my gun hanging over the side. " How came you here, you young rascal ? " exclaimed the mate, with an accompaniment that made my ears tingle, and sent me full length in the bottom of the boat. You will think this rather a disgraceful com mencement for one who was to become the hero of many adventures ; but in justification of Mr Jones, I am bound to admit that I fully merited the punish ment, for by an accident had my piece discharged, it would have brought our expedition to a premature termination. As it was, by judiciously hiding the arms, and the waving of handkerchiefs as we reached the shore, the natives sufficiently understood our pacific intentions to so far alter their warlike attitude, that we hoped to effect a landing without molestation — a hope, however, that became a little dimmed when upon nearer view we saw what might have been easily mistaken for a tribe from Pandemonium.

There, stretching almost in a straight line along the shore, stood some four or five hundred bipeds ; they could scarcely be likened to human beings, the tallest of whom did not reach five feet, perfectly naked, with skeleton limbs, large protuberant stomachs, high shoulders, great unshapely heads covered with woolly hair, dyed with red ochre, sooty black skins plastered over with mud, flat noses, thick lips, and small red eyes which glistened over their famine-stricken counte nances ; moreover, armed with small bows of bamboo and strings of the fibre of a tree, with reed arrows headed with fish-bone, spears of heavy wood sharply pointed, and shields made of bark ; all of whom, as we neared the shore, we could hear chattering together like so many monkeys. " Rest on your oars, my lads ; the brutes mean mischief," said the mate, as he saw these armed savages coming down to the water's edge.

" Let's try 'em with this here ; it's pretty," said the coxswain, as he held up a tobacco-box of shining brass. " Or a knife," said a sailor. " Or a few buttons," said another ; each as he spoke holding the article above his head. " Ay, ay, presents it is, my lads," said the mate, collecting the articles named and leaping ashore. The hasty step Mr Jones had taken was an im prudent one ; for scarcely had his feet touched the shingles upon the beach than an arrow whistling within an inch of his head grazed the arm of a sailor behind, who smarting with pain and indignation, at once discharged his musket at one of the savages, who fell dead. The mate swore terribly at the sailor for his im prudence. As for myself, I trembled for the conse quences, now war had been declared, and we were in the midst of hundreds of enraged savages ; indeed our escape was miraculous.

The scene that followed the report of the gun and the death of the savage, I can only compare to the sudden death from a fowling piece of one of a flock of young rooks, who will hover and whirl above their dead companion for some time in consternation, regardless of the risk of losing their own lives. So it was with the savages, who evidently had never before heard the report of a gun, for at the sound they placed their fingers in their ears and appeared half stunned ; then they hovered around their fallen com panion in wonderment at so singular a death ; but, as if suddenly comprehending that the man who could have killed him at so great a distance, and by means of a loud noise and a puff of smoke, could be no other than the malignant fiend of the storm, in whom they believed, the whole tribe took to their heels and fled as fast as their legs would carry them into the dense forest which skirts and partly covers the mountains.

" It's lucky the brutes mistook you for the old 'un hisself, or that ere shot o' yours 'd cost every man Jack on us the number of his mess," said an old sailor to the man who had fired the gun. " Mayhaps because there isn't enough on 'em they have gone to fetch some of their relations to help 'em," said the coxswain Davis. " No, no, the varmint have had such a fright with the gun they won't return in a hurry," replied the mate. " Howsomdever, we had better look pretty sharp, sir, as they may get over the novelty of the thing." " Right, Davis ; so just hold on with half a dozen of the lads while we search yonder bay — if bay it is," said the mate. " Bay ! " said Davis, while the men were preparing to follow. " To my thinking the skipper's out in his reckoning, for as far as I can make out, yonder opening is neither a harbour or a bay, but just a creek."

" You are right, Davis ; it is neither, and it is a creek," replied the mate, looking through his glass at the opening which, as far as we could make out, appeared to be about a mile along the coast ; adding, " then the boat-party must have fallen into the hands of these black devils. So forward, my lads ; as for you, youngster, as you seem fond of the smell of powder, you may stay with the boat, or follow, as you please." The latter being addressed to me, I chose to go with the search party. In all, our number consisted of six well-armed men, for I counted myself as a man. We proceeded stealthily along the shore, keeping a good look-out on all sides, till we had proceeded about half a mile, when, as the land abutted out to a great distance into the sea, and the mate wanted to make a short cut to the creek, he led us through a dense jungle.

Clear ing this without meeting with any other obstruction than swarms of annoying insects, rotting trees, deep pools of pestilential water, a few snakes, and now and then a stray hog, we came to a clearing, when the mate cried out. " Keep a sharp look-out, my lads. Yonder is the lair of some wild beast." With fingers upon triggers we approached the place pointed out by the mate. It was not very ingeniously constructed, even for the work of a wild animal ; for it consisted of only four sticks stuck in the ground, fastened at the top and crossed transversely by others, the whole being covered with leafy branches of the palm-tree. " This ain't the lair of no wild beast, but the hut of one of them savages," said a sailor, as we crept stealthily into the place, adding, with a shudder, as he caught sight of a string of skulls and other bones suspended from the roof, " Lord have mercy on us !

The devils have made quick work with our mates. We hadn't need look any further. Lord have mercy upon us ! " " Dick, you lubber, these are the bones of hogs and turtles," said the mate ; adding, " however, this hut will do for a rendezvous, so hoist a rag that we can all see, and let us search in different directions." Accordingly several handkerchiefs were tied together and hoisted upon a long pole from the top of the hut. Two men were left in charge of the station, two others proceeded to the east, while the mate and myself went in the direction of the creek, in search of the missing crew; it being understood that the report of a gun should be the signal for the rallying together again of our whole party. Beating our way through the tall jungle, yet keeping as near the sea as possible, we continued our journey for some two hours ; and so wild and desolate was the surrounding scenery that, but for positive evidence to the contrary, we should have concluded the island to have been uninhabited.

At length we reached the supposed creek ; it proved, however, to be a channel, which, as it became wider as it ran inland and stretched beyond our vision, we felt assured must run its course through the island. This was disheartening ; still, reluctant to give up all hope of finding the missing party — who might be resting, either as prisoners or guests, in some savage village yet to be discovered — we kept our course along the shore of the channel. As, however, we were making our way through some tall bamboo-shoots the mate called out, " Listen — footsteps ! lie down." Simultaneously falling upon our hands and knees, through the canes we saw two savages approaching towards the channel : they were young women, meagre and half famished in appearance, with baskets of a rough kind of wicker-work slung across their backs, and carrying in their hands short spears.

Having reached the water's edge they crouched stealthily like cats, each poising her spear between her fingers, to which we could now perceive it was attached by a fibrous string ; thus for some minutes each watched the leaping fish with gleaming eyes, and awaited the opportunity of a good aim. At length a spear was darted forth, and a fish transfixed as it jumped from the water ; and when, after this manner they had filled their baskets with a day's provision for their husbands and families, with lightened steps, and eyes glistening at the prospect of a meal (for it is only at certain seasons of the year that these poor and more than half-starved Andamaners can procure even the luxury of fish), they left the creek. But they were hungered, and at a few yards' distance stopped to prepare and indulge in a temporary meal.

So collecting some dried underwood, and having, by means of a flint which they carried with them, kindled a fire, the fish were thrown into the flames ; but before they had had time to become warmed throughout, the famished creatures snatched them out again, and began to tear them with their claw-like fingers. Their evidently long-looked-for repast was, however, suddenly interrupted by a dark-skinned man, who, darting forth from behind a crag of rock, with two rapid blows from a thick stick stretched the poor creatures upon the earth, after which he began to unfasten the baskets from their shoulders. Need I tell you my feelings at that moment ? No — for right or wrong, and without stopping to consider the prudence of the act, I discharged my gun, when the fellow, giving one loud yell, fell stretched upon the earth.

As for the mate, although he swore at my imprudence, with one leap he bounded towards the fallen coward. At the moment of my firing, the women were about crawling upon their hands and feet, as if by that means they could escape their enemy. The report of the gun, however, so shocked them that they fell flat upon their faces, and thrust their fingers into their ears, as if it had been the shock of doom. " Don't let them escape, youngster. Let them see we are friends — show them their fish," said the mate. Snatching up the basket of fish I ran forward to the poor creatures and held it forth, making signs for them to take it. Recovering from the shock they arose to their feet, and with eager staring eyes one ventured to approach me, held out her hand, then withhrew, and it was not until after many efforts I could satisfy her of my friendly intentions.

Indeed, I believe they would have both scampered off had they not been convinced, by seeing their enemy with his arms bound by a necker chief, dragged forward by the mate. Perceiving this, however, they capered about with joy and gratitude, uttering sounds more like those of wild beasts than anything human. " We must secure these women, for by their means we may discover the fate of the boat-party," said the mate. To talk about securing these two savages was one thing, to do it another. Fortunately, however, the report of the gun had alarmed our party, whom at that moment we saw coming through the jungle. At their appearance the women trembled with fear, and would have escaped but for two words the prisoner spoke to them in their own language — if such miserable sounds could be called a language — and in another minute they were surrounded, so that they could not escape.