In five minutes the whole herd of them were hopelessly bogged, and the more they struggled to escape, the deeper they sunk.

There was one exception, indeed, a cow managed to win back to firm shore, and, lifting her trunk, prepared to charge us as we came up.

But at that moment she heard the scream of her calf, and rushed back to its assistance, only to be bogged with the others.
Such a scene I never saw before or since.

The swamp was spotted all over with the large forms of the elephants, and the air rang with their screams of rage and terror as they waved their trunks wildly to and fro.
Now and then a monster would make a great effort and drag his mass from its peaty bed, only to stick fast again at the next step.

It was a most pitiable sight, though one that gladdened the hearts of my men.