CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 61 



meekly from some little undersized native 

 whom, if it but knew its strength, it could 

 crush as we crush a wasp. That is the ele- 

 phant subdued by man. Yet a wounded wild 

 elephant at close quarters is a terrible adver- 

 sary, and a solitary " rogue" (or gunda] will 

 terrorise a whole district for weeks together, 

 so that the woodmen are afraid to go far into 

 the jungle and the villagers are held up as if 

 undergoing a siege. Not every lonely ele- 

 phant, it should be remembered, is a "rogue," 

 for the tuskless males (or maknas] are at times 

 so bullied by their more fortunate brothers with 

 tusks that they prefer, though not necessarily 

 vicious, to separate themselves from the herd 

 and lead a solitary existence. 



How and why an elephant turns " rogue " is 

 an interesting question that is always being 

 argued, but rarely answered in a satisfactory 

 manner. Clearly his case is not on all fours 

 with that of the man-eating tiger, which we shall 

 discuss later. Nor must permanent roguery be 

 confused with the passing madness known in 

 India as must, under the influence of which 

 one of these animals will sometimes run amok^ 

 as it is called, in the bazaars, killing all who do 

 not get out of its way. There is an even worse 

 type of elephant than the wild ' * rogue, " and that 

 is a once tame elephant that, impatient of its 

 bondage, has escaped back to the jungle. Such 



