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I led the way, with Zainal as close to me as
possible. We could not both take cover behind one bush
or tree at the same time, so we were often separated by
as much as twenty yards. I was creeping along, dodging
lianas, low branches and prickly vines when I suddenly
felt a sharp 'ping' on my face. Glancing at the leaves
quite close to my nose, I saw a wasps' nest a few inches
from my face. Immediately, I realised that I had met
only the advance guard of the nest. In cases like this,
it is very wise to get as far away as possible or all
the wasps may descend upon you. Without waiting
another second, I called "Wasps!" quietly to Zainal,
turned round and retreated as fast as the trees and
undergrowth would permit. About a hundred yards away, I
stopped to see whether the wasps had given up the chase.
Fortunately, they had, so I sat
down on a fallen tree to inspect the damage.
I found that I had only three stings: two on the arm and
on my cheek which was already starting to make my eye
swell up. There was not a sign of Zianal anywhere. I
knew that we were too far from the elephants for him to
come up to any harm, but I could not understand where he
had gone. However, I thought that he would appear if I
waited long enough in one place. Twenty minutes later,
I heard cautious movements in the direction from which I
had just come, and Zainal peeped round bush. When he saw
me sitting there on the log, waiting quietly, he asked
me how it was that I was still alive. I told him that
the wasps had not been big enough to sting me to death
or carry me away. "But what about the elephant ?" he
asked. "What did you do about the one which charged ?"
"Which elephant ?" I asked. "None of them charged. I was
stung on the face and nearly put my head into a wasps'
nest. Didn't you hear me call to you ?" "No," replied
Zainal. "I ran when you ran. I thought an elephant was
charging. I didn't hear anything, not even a shout, so I
felt sure that the elephant had killed you. I have just
been looking for you body. I couldn't leave it lying in
the jungle. I wanted to make sure that you were buried
properly !" We smiled broadly at the incident, and I
imagined Zainal wandering about, sadly looking for my
body. I was glad that he had been wrong. In an attempt
to catch up with the elephants, we took a different
route and cut through a valley and then made our way
round the side of a hill. About an hour later, we found
that we had guessed correctly, and we came up with the
herd. I was glad to notice that the animals were more
widely separated from each other than usual. Quietly
forcing our way through the undergrowth, we approached
as near as we could as I looked
carefully for the big bull. Zainal was just
behind me on my right when I spotted it. Unknown to
us, one of the other elephants must have decided to rest
for a moment, and had chosen a patch of thick bushes
hardly thirty yards from where we stood. As I moved my
position slightly, to try to get a better view of the
bull, this elephant must have heard me, for it rose
suddenly and took a few steps forward with an alarming
crashing sound. Automatically, I reached to my right for
the rifle which Zainal was supposed to give me at such a
vital moment. I grasped nothing but air, and quick
glance showed me that Zainal had completely vanished. I
looked back at the elephant instantly, and was very glad
to see it disappear in the opposite direction.
If it had decided to attack, I
should have been in an awkward position. I
sat down on a rough log near a track and for the second
time I waited for Zainal, and wondered whether he would
again say that he had been searching anxiously for my
dead body. Some ten minutes later, I saw a face peering
nervously round a bend in the path. "Wasp ?" I asked
him a little sadly. "I am not dead." |
