THE KADIR CUP 203 



into camp. As a matter of fact he had got his fodder- 

 cutter treed about half a mile from camp, and would not 

 leave the place. He had a grudge against the man and 

 meant to get him. Hiddan Khan, who was on the elephant, 

 could do nothing with him, but he stuck to him, and never 

 left him. We had all the other elephants and horses taken 

 away to a river-bed a mile or so off, where they spent the 

 night. There was no stone temple or any building, and 

 the camp was just a clearing in the middle of thick forest 

 and high tiger-grass. The night was pitch dark and very 

 cold. After some time the elephant left the " chara " 

 cutter and came to the place where the elephants had been 

 tied up. There he ate up the whole of the rations prepared 

 for eleven elephants. Then he went back to the tree where 

 the " chara " cutter was. He had been too paralysed to 

 come down and make a bolt of it. Next time the elephant 

 left the tree we got the man out of it, stiff and cold with 

 fright, and got him into camp by a roundabout way, a 

 ticklish business. When the elephant went again and 

 found the man had gone he was furious, and came down 

 to the camp. First he came on the carts, killed two or 

 three bullocks, and smashed up two carts. He tried to 

 get at his mahout, who had been unable to get off, and had 

 had to take refuge at the back of the pad like a mugriwala. 

 Then the elephant came to the Tahsildar's tents, where he 

 picked up a howdah and threw it about ten yards on to a 

 tent. All the Tahsildar's people had bolted to a few big 

 trees where our tents were. Then the elephant came on to 

 our tents. We could only make out where he was from 

 the mahout's calling out. " The elephant is coming." 

 Swann and I were ready, and as soon as we could make 

 him out, about fifteen or twenty yards off, we each gave 

 him two barrels. This turned him, and we each got in 

 two more. Of course we had to chance hitting the mahout 

 as we could not see anything but a black mass. The 

 elephant went off a little way, trumpeting and knocking 

 down trees. This was about 11 o'clock. About 2 he 

 made another determined attack which we kept off in the 

 same way. Then he went off a little way to think it over. 



