TAKING OUT TUSKS. 199 



more likely to attack a man, and to do so persistently, than nine-tenths of 

 male elephants. If some solitary animal, which has been accustomed to 

 lord it over field-watchers and helpless travellers, is met, the unexpected 

 novelty of a battery opening upon him is lilvely to disconcert him, and, like 

 all bullies, he is demoralised by a reverse. A man-eating tiger is not more 

 dangerous to hunt than any other ; and in my experience, and from all I 

 have heard, rogue elephants, when the tables are turned on them, are not 

 more determined than others. 



When a tusker has been secured, his tusks may either be hacked out, or 

 left for about ten days, when they can be drawn out without much trouble. 

 If the tusks are to be cut out, the flesh along the nasal bones up to the eye 

 must be removed and the tusk-cases split with a hatchet, but the tusks are 

 usually somewhat blemished in the process. The best pair of tusks I ever 

 bagged were 4 feet 11 inches and 5 feet respectively in length (when 

 taken out), 16-| inches in circumference at the gums, and weighed 74| lb. 

 the pair. 



A dead elephant is soon a disgusting spectacle. The carcass swells to 

 an enormous size, the legs on the side which is uppermost becoming stiff, 

 and projecting horizontally by its distension. Many hundreds of vultures 

 collect on the neighbouring trees, or fight for a seat upon the carcass, 

 awaiting the time when they shall be able to make a commencement. This 

 is not for at least six days, when the carcass bursts, and collapses with 

 rottenness. By this time it is crawling with millions of maggots, and has 

 become whitewashed with the droppings of the filthy but useful birds. 

 The spot resounds with the buzzing of innumerable flies, and the stench is 

 so great as to be easily perceivable at half a mile to leeward. Wild hogs 

 not unfrequently feed upon the carcass, as I have seen by their tracks ; 

 and I think it is not unKkely, as stated by natives, that tigers do so 

 occasionally. 



Wlien the vultures are able to commence, the carcass is reduced to a 

 pile of bones and a heap of undigested, masticated grass (the contents of 

 the stomach), in a few hours. Large though the amount of flesh is, it is 

 soon disposed of by the hundreds of ravenous birds, whose croaking, hissing, 

 and flapping, as they feed and fight, may be heard for a considerable distance. 

 If the stench is overpowering before the carcass is devoured, it is almost 

 worse when the birds have left. The whole neighbourhood is pervaded 

 with the most pungent odour of guano, and the site of the recent disgusting 

 feast is trampled into a puddle by their feet. 



In Mysore even the lowest classes of natives, who have no objection to 

 carrion, will not eat the flesh of the elephant. They imagine it to be very 



