82 WILD HEASTS AND TIIKIU WAYS CHAP. 



elephant is seized with ;i panic when upon open ground, it will 

 rush for the ncaro.st junglo, ]>rol).il)ly with the intention of con- 

 cealment. The animal in question returned to its wild state 

 directly it had escajwd from confinement, but the domestication of 

 many years appears to have sharpened its intellect, and to have 

 exaggerated its powers for mischief and cunning. It became the 

 scourge, not only of the immediate neighbourhood, but of a con- 

 siderable portion of a district which included an area' of a hundred 

 miles in length by forty or fifty in width. 



No village was safe from the attack of this infuriated beast. 

 It would travel great distances, and appear at unexpected intervals, 

 suddenly presenting itself to the horrified villagers, who fled in all 

 directions, leaving their homes and their supplies of grain to be 

 demolished by the omnipotent intruder, who tore down their 

 dwellings, ransacked their stores of corn, and killed any unfortunate 

 person who came within its reach. 



There was a cruel love of homicide in this animal that has 

 rarely been recorded. Not only would it attack villages in pursuit 

 of forage, but it was particularly addicted to the destruction of the 

 lofty watch ing-places in the fields, occupied nightly by the villagers 

 to scare wild animals from their crops. These watch-houses are 

 generally constructed upon strong poles secured by cross-pieces, on 

 the top of which, about sixteen feet from the ground, is a small 

 hut upon a platform. This is thatched to protect the occupant 

 from the heavy dew or rain. From such elevated posts the 

 watchers yell and scream throughout the night to frighten the 

 wild beasts. To attack and tear down such posts was the delight 

 of this bloodthirsty elephant. Instead of being scared by the 

 shouts of the inmates, it was attracted by their cries, and, unseen 

 in the dark, it was upon them almost before they were aware of its 

 presence. The strong posts upon which the constructions had been 

 raised offered no resistance to the attack, and the miserable 

 watchers found themselves hurled to the ground together with the 

 ruins of their upturned shelter. In another moment they were 

 either caught and stamped to death, or chased through the darkness 

 by the pursuing elephant, and when captured they were torn limb 

 from limb, as the brute exhibited a cruel satisfaction in placing one 

 foot upon the victim, and then tearing with its trunk an arm, a 

 leg, or the head from the mangled l>ody. 



In this manner the elephant killed upwards of twenty people 

 throughout the district, and it became absolutely necessary, if 

 possible, to destroy it. 



This was at last effected by Colonel Bloomfield and a friend, 



