PECULIAR NOISES UTTERED BY ELEPHANTS 119 



to their zeal, and without hearty co-operation of your mahouts 

 you will get little or no game. 



Elephants differ greatly in make and size; and a really 

 good mahout will tell pretty accurately whence the animal 

 came by merely looking him over. Elephants utter peculiar 

 sounds to denote certain meanings. A whistling noise 

 produced by the trunk indicates satisfaction ; when they 

 trumpet or utter a hoarse, sharp scream it is a sign of 

 rage ; a noise made by the mouth like " pr-rut-pr-rut " is a 

 sign of alarm, so is the striking of the trunk on the ground 

 accompanied by a pitiful cry, whilst a noise like "urmp- 

 urmp " denotes impatience or dissatisfaction. Elephants are 

 never still, their bodies are always swaying to and fro, the 

 ears and tail are constantly flapping or brushing off flies, the 

 trunk is in incessant use, the legs are constantly rubbed one 

 against the other ; but if the same animal, so full of restless- 

 ness, becomes suspicious, he becomes for the moment as rigid 

 as a rock, with his trunk raised and ears cocked forward, 

 using his olfactory and acute hearing to the utmost. I do not 

 think their eyesight is very good, they trust more to the two 

 senses I have just mentioned, but if an elephant runs away 

 and all other means fail to stop his flight, try blindfolding him. 

 I have known it succeed several times. 



Elephants when asleep often snore : they are very human- 

 like in many of their ways ; for instance, I have seen them 

 use a foot as a pillow on which to rest their head. They get 

 a piece of wood and use it as a toothpick, they will plug a 

 wound with clay, they scratch themselves with the tip of their 

 trunk, or if they cannot reach the irritable part with that, they 

 take up a branch and use it. An elephant often thrusts his 

 trunk into his mouth and extracts a quantity of water which 

 he squirts over his body, and often over his riders. 



Before starting on a day's shooting, see that your howdah 

 is correctly, tightly, and straightly put on : if it is at all 

 crooked, have it taken off and re-adjusted : it is better to have 

 it correctly done in camp where you have men to assist than to 

 have to do it in the jungles where the hands are few. One great 

 source of the howdah getting out of gear is the constantly 

 making an elephant sit down to enable the rider to dismount ; 



