THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 1125 



stated, however, that in some parts of Burma and Siam, young are produced much 

 more freely from captive females. The ordinary period of gestation is about nine- 

 teen months, but it appears that in some cases it may be a month less, while in 

 others its duration may be as much as twenty-two months. As a rule, the young 

 are born in the autumn, from September to November, and there is generally but 

 one produced at a birth, although in rare instances twins occur. The new-born calf 

 stands about a yard in height, and weighs about two hundred pounds; it suckles its 

 parent with its mouth, and not, as has sometimes been supposed, with its trunk. 



Elephant shooting, which is always practiced on foot, is pronounced 

 . to be the most dangerous of all sports by Sir Samuel Baker, since, 

 although many elephants may be killed without any danger or harm, 

 it is almost inevitable that the charge of a wounded animal will have to be encoun- 

 tered sooner or later by the sportsman. In shooting the Indian elephant a thorough 

 knowledge of the position of the brain in the skull is essential, as the three chief 

 head shots depend entirely on this. Of these three shots the one known as the 

 front shot should be planted in the forehead about three inches above the line of the 

 eyes when the elephant is standing with its head in the ordinary position and 

 facing the sportsman. When, however, the elephant is charging with its head 

 thrown up, the front shot to prove fatal must be aimed much lower down, in the 

 tipper part of the trunk, and as the bullet has then to traverse a great thickness of 

 flesh and bony tissues before reaching the brain, everything depends upon its pene- 

 trating power. Indeed, although elephants have frequently been killed by well- 

 planted bullets from small-bore rifles, all who have had much experience of this 

 sport are unanimous as to the importance of shooting with rifles of heavy calibre. 

 The other two fatal shots in the head are the side, or temple shot, and the rear shot 

 just behind the ear. The shot behind the shoulder is not in much favor. 



Allusion has already been made to the generally timid and pacific nature of the 

 wild Indian elephant; and there can be little doubt that in many cases, when these 

 animals charge, they do so more from sudden alarm and fright than from any innate 

 viciousness. 



When an elephant does charge, it requires all the coolness and presence of mind 

 of the sportsman to avoid a catastrophe. "A grander animated object," writes Mr. 

 Sanderson, "than a wild elephant in full charge can hardly be imagined. The 

 cocked ears and broad forehead present an immense frontage; the head is held high, 

 with the trunk curled between the tusks, to be uncoiled in the moment of attack; 

 the massive fore-legs come down with the force and regularity of ponderous ma- 

 chinery; and the whole figure is rapidly foreshortened, and appears to double in size 

 with each advancing stride. The trunk being curled and unable to emit any sound, 

 the attack is made in silence, after the usual premonitory shriek, which adds to its 

 impressiveness. The usual pictorial representations of the Indian elephant charging 

 with upraised trunk are accordingly quite incorrect." 



In some cases the sportsman has to stalk a herd of elephants, and to pick out 

 the finest tusker from among the males in the rear; while at other times he has to 

 track up a particular solitary male, which may be either a " rogue " or a herd tusker 

 temporarily separated from his companions. When a herd discovers the presence of 



