THE LIFE OF THE HAM RAN SWORD-HUNTER. 73 



before daybreak, and ride slowly throughout the country 

 in search of elephants, generally keeping along the course 

 of a river until they come upon the tracks where a herd 

 or a single elephant may have drunk during the night. 

 When once upon the tracks, they follow fast towards the 

 retreating game. The elephants may be twenty miles 

 distant ;. but it matters little to the aggageers. At length 

 they discover them, and the hunt begins. The first step 

 is to single out the bull with the largest tusks ; this is 

 the commencement of the fight. After a short hunt, 

 the elephant turns upon his pursuers, who scatter and fly 

 from his headlong charge until he gives up the pursuit ; 

 he at length turns to bay when again pressed by the 

 hunters. It is the duty of one man in particular to ride 

 up close to the head of the elephant, and thus to absorb 

 its attention upon himself. This ensures a desperate 

 charge. The greatest coolness and dexterity are then 

 required by the hunter, who, now the Jmnted, must so 

 adapt the speed of his horse to the pace of the elephant 

 that the enraged beast gains in the race until it almost 

 reaches the tail of the horse. In this manner the race 

 continues. In the meantime two hunters gallop up 

 behind the elephant unseen by the animal, whose atten- 

 tion is completely directed to the horse almost within 

 his grasp. With extreme agility, when close to the 

 heels of the elephant, one of the hunters, while at full 

 speed, springs to the ground with his drawn sword as his 



