88 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



rived, he had wrecked the stall, and the keepers 

 were afraid that he might get loose. Another stall 

 had been arranged, but they could figure out no 

 way of changing him to it. The men were thor- 

 oughly frightened and absolutely refused to risk 

 hobbling him. The director of the Gardens offered 

 me 100 if I would do it, and, since I had Ali and 

 several of my own men with me, I agreed to try. 



With elephant hooks strapped to our wrists, we 

 entered the stall. The elephant stood looking at us, 

 apparently wondering which one he should knock 

 down first. I told Ali to get behind him while I 

 approached from the front. 



I went up to him sideways, speaking to him and 

 offering him food. He waited quietly until I was 

 near enough; then, before I could duck, he hit me 

 with his trunk. I felt myself spinning so rapidly 

 that the elephant, my men and the stall were all a 

 blur; and I came up against the wall with a thud. 

 Fortunately, there was a gutter running along the 

 wall, and I dropped into it just as the elephant 

 lunged forward at me. His big head hit the wall 

 and the floor but couldn't get at me. He would 

 not risk his trunk, because he realized that I would 

 jab him with the hook. 



Ali and the other men were at his tail, jabbing 

 him and pulling. When he turned for them, I 

 jumped up and began running my hook into his side. 

 It became a game of jabbing and dodging and wor- 

 rying him to first one side and then the other. I 



