188 ELEPHANT- SHOOTING VERSUS TIGER- SHOOTING. 



roams through his native forests. He browses upon the lofty branches, 

 upturns young trees from sheer malice, and from plain to forest he stalks 

 majestically at break of day ' monarch of all he surveys.' " 



What possible claim can the lion, or in India the tiger, lay to the royal 

 title ? Is the elephant not as infinitely their superior in every good quality 

 of mind as he is in physical strength. Let them enter the lists against 

 him ; at one spurn from the foot of their suzerain, behold the claimants 

 flying through the air with half the bones in their bodies broken ! 



It is difficult to define the exact elements which make elephant-shooting 

 the supremely exciting sport it is ; but its clanger, and the necessity for the 

 exercise of the sportsman's personal qualities of perseverance, endurance, and 

 nerve, are prominent ones. The best trackers can only bring their master 

 up to the game, when everything depends on himself. The size of the 

 noble beast which is the object of pursuit ; the fine line of country through 

 which the chase always leads ; and the fair stand-up nature of the encounter 

 when the game is met, — all tend to elevate elephant -shooting above all 

 sports with the rifle. 



Let us compare it with the much -vaunted pursuit of the tiger. In 

 Southern India at least, the latter sport is chiefly conducted from trees, 

 towards which the beaters drive the tiger. After disposing and instructing 

 his men, the best sportsman can do no more: he is entirely at their mercy; 

 and even if he bags the tiger, it is only a piece of straight shooting at 

 a large mark that he can pride himself upon. Any one who possesses 

 influence and can obtain plenty of beaters may make a much longer score 

 than better men not similarly circumstanced, though without possessing other 

 personal qualifications than that of a cranium thick enough to stand the 

 power of an Indian sun whilst perched in a tree at mid-day. Tiger-shooting 

 is no criterion of a sportsman's attainments. Many men have bagged their 

 fifty tigers who never succeeded in stalking an old stag sambur. Then, if 

 the game is not bagged, there is nothing to compensate the sportsman for 

 his ill-luck and exposure. His only solace is in abusing his beaters ; his 

 very night's rest is embittered by the thought that if it had not been for 

 " that rascal " who did something or other that he should not have done, he 

 would have had another tiger — hollow glory — to add to his account. 



What a different picture does elephant-shooting present ! The sports- 

 man's knowledge of woodcraft and of the habits of his game are constantly 

 in requisition ; the skill of his wild jungle-trackers is a never- wearying 

 matter for admiration ; the beauty and diversity of the scenery through 

 which he passes, by lake, hill, and stream ; the constant excitement kept 

 alive by the fresher and fresher signs of the noble game ahead, — make it 



