118 A CHASE. 



Crossing the river we saw some mahouts in a tree, who pointed to the 

 jungle on the left, where we found the elephant, a fine tusker, but with 

 the right-hand tusk missing. He was a young elephant, and would be a 

 prize indeed. We all lay flat on our elephants' necks. Presently the tusker 

 approached us, and my elephant's mahout turned Dowlutpeary round with 

 her stern towards him, that he might be less likely to see us. He put his 

 trunk along her back, almost to where I sat. I took the goad from the 

 mahout, so as to job his trunk if he came too near me, but he seemed 

 satisfied. Bheemruttee and Pounpeary, the other two elephants, now made 

 advances to him under the direction of their mahouts, and he soon resigned 

 himself unsuspiciously to our company. 



He now led us through the lines, interviewing several of the captured 

 elephants, whose position he did not seem to be able to understand, and 

 then retired to a shady tree, as the sun had risen. I signed to the hiding 

 mahouts to get the other tame elephants quietly across the river, but to 

 keep them out of sight ; and as soon as the elephant stood perfectly still, 

 my mahout and Bheemruttee's slipped off, whilst Pounpeary's rider and I 

 kept the three elephants close against the wild one to prevent his seeing 

 the men. They had been at work tying his hind-legs for a considerable 

 time, when he attempted to move and found himself hobbled ! The critical 

 knot had just been tied when he shifted his position ! He was on the 

 alert in an instant. Our elephants sheered off with great celerity, as he 

 might have prodded them with his sharp tusk. The mahouts each threw 

 a handful of dust into his face in derision before they retired, and now 

 the fun began. Men came running from all directions with ropes, to the 

 dismay of the tusker, who trumpeted shrilly and made off at an astonishing 

 pace, scuffling along with his hind-legs, which were not very closely tied to 

 each other, and which he could use to some extent. He rushed away through 

 the low jungle, the whole of our elephants and men in hot pursuit. He 

 was red with a peculiar earth with which he had been dusting himself, and 

 formed a great contrast to the black tame elephants. Our tuskers were all 

 slow (their pace might have been improved by an application of the Assam 

 elephant-hunter's spiked mallet), and we did not gain on the elephant for 

 nearly half a mile. The men on foot were running in a crowd alongside 

 him to his intense terror. At last he turned into a thicket and halted, and 

 we quickly surrounded him. Dowlutpeary and Bheemruttee again went in, 

 ami he was secured and marched back between four elephants in triumph. 

 I sold him subsequently (for Government) for £175 ; had he had both 

 tusks he would have brought double that sum. I gave the three mahouts 

 who secured him £5 each — a small fortune to them — the moment the 



