iv THE ELEPHANT 85 



by the exciting war-dance, but I never witnessed such an instance 

 of hysterical fury as that exhibited by Bisgaum. It is impossible 

 to describe the elephantine antics of this frantic animal ; he kicked 

 right and left with his hind legs alternately, with the rapidity of a 

 horse ; trumpeting and screaming, he threw his trunk in the air, 

 twisting it about, and shaking his immense head, until, having 

 lashed himself into a sufficient rage, he made a desperate charge 

 at the supposed defunct enemy, with the intention of treating the 

 body in a similar manner to that a few days previous. But the 

 tiger was not quite dead ; and although he could not move to get 

 away, he seized with teeth and claws the hind leg of the maddened 

 elephant, who had clumsily overrun him in the high excitement, 

 instead of kicking the body with a fore foot as he advanced. 



The scene was now most interesting. We were close specta- 

 tors looking down upon the exhibition as though upon an arena. 

 I never saw such fury in an elephant ; the air was full of stones 

 and dust, as he kicked with such force that the tiger for the 

 moment was lost to view in the tremendous struggle, and being 

 kicked away from his hold, with one of his long fangs broken short 

 off to the gum, he lay helpless before his huge antagonist, who, 

 turning quickly round, drove his long tusks between the tiger's 

 shoulders, and crushed the last spark of life from his tenacious 

 adversary. 



This was a grand scene, and I began to think there was some 

 real pluck in Bisgaum after all, although there was a total want 

 of discipline ; but just as I felt inclined to applaud, the victorious 

 elephant was seized with a sudden panic, and turning tail, he 

 rushed along the bottom of the watercourse at the rate of 20 

 miles an hour, and disappeared in the thorny jungle below at a 

 desperate pace that threatened immediate destruction to his 

 staunch mahout. Leaving my men to arrange a litter with poles 

 and cross-bars to carry the tiger home, I followed the course of 

 Bisgaum upon Demoiselle, expecting every minute to see the body 

 of his mahout stretched upon the ground. At length, after about 

 half a mile passed in anxiety, we discovered Bisgaum and his 

 mahout both safe upon an open plain ; the latter torn and bleed- 

 ing from countless scratches while rushing through the thorny 

 jungle. 



On the following day the elephant's leg was much swollen, 

 although the wounds appeared to be very slight. It is probable 

 that a portion of the broken tooth remained in the flesh, as the 

 leg festered, and became so bad that the elephant could not travel 

 for nearly a fortnight afterwards. The mahouts are very obstinate, 



