228 DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



mahout gives him his chief meal, a round number of pounds 

 of grain. This has to be fed to him, for if left to himself he 

 will scatter it about and lose half, for the animal is a waste- 

 ful and improvident feeder. To prevent this, the mahout 

 binds up a wisp of straw into a mass like a bird's nest, 

 about a foot across, fills this with the grain and places it 



in the elephant's mouth, the 

 latter advancing a step or two 

 and bringing down its head to 

 receive it from the mahout, 

 who is squatting on the ground 

 the whole time and does not 

 trouble to move. As soon as 

 the mass is placed inside his 

 mouth, the elephant backs a 

 step or two and slowly chews 

 it, straw and grain together. 

 This nightly operation is 

 usually carried out in front of 

 the tents, so that a watch 

 may be kept on the mahouts ; 

 otherwise the men consider they are within their rights in 

 feeding the whole of their family and relations out of the 

 grain provided for the elephants, and the latter suffer a 

 shortage in their daily meal. And the elephant is perfectly 

 aware of the shortage and pilfering, and is in his way grateful 

 for the sahib's care. For the elephant is one of the most 

 intelligent of beasts, and rarely forgets a kind act done to 

 him. 



At the opposite side of the camp to that where the 

 elephants are situated, is the horses' encampment. Here 

 are to be found the horses' attendants, a man and a boy 

 to each animal, with two or three small single-fly tents, 

 the horses picketed out with heel ropes to prevent them 

 stampeding when a leopard prowls round the camp, or 

 wandering or engaging in playful kicking matches, a 

 game at which some ponies are past-masters. Earlier in 

 the evening I had myself personally inspected this camp, 

 to see that my favourites had been properly fed and 

 groomed : for a perfect understanding should exist between 

 the master and his four-footed friends. 



Hard by is the small camp, in which the havildah and the 

 shikari reign supreme over a swarm of lesser camp attend- 



