Treating Elephants. 101 



heavily loaded, into his chest. Only five or six paces 

 separated us. The blood poured from his trunk, the 

 fight was taken out of him, and he slowly retreated. 

 Carefully reloading I crept round and got on to his 

 track ; he had not gone far. Eesting against a huge 

 teak tree he stood. I went round to another from 

 which I could obtain the temple shot and dropped 

 him dead. 



Having related or given instances of slaying these 

 monsters, I will now make a few remarks as to their 

 care and welfare, for every one interested in Indian 

 sport, especially in the vast grassy plains of Burma 

 and Assam, is dependent on the services of these 

 animals for his success. Nothing can be done without 

 them. If you are purchasing an elephant for sporting 

 purposes, choose one that has been a koonkie, that 

 is, one which has been employed in running down 

 other elephants. You can distinguish such at once by 

 the large scar on the top of the rump near the tail, 

 which, when the animal was hunted, had been inflicted 

 on it and kept open as a means of accelerating its 

 speed ; for " one " of the two men, who mount an 

 elephant on a chase, sits behind and belabours this 

 sore with an iron ball, which he swings about by an 

 attached rope. These koonkies are more to be trusted 

 than other animals of their kind ; they are used to 

 seeing every kind of beast, move more smoothly, and 

 are less likely to be demoralised than those that have 

 never been used in the chase. Don't choose a leggy 

 brute. A female koonkie with a straight back and 

 immense girth, even if she be but seven and a half to 

 eight feet high, is better than a male a foot higher. 



There is as much rascality in selling an elephant in 



