ELEPHANTS. 539 



went his ears and up went his tail, in a way which no one who has once seen the 

 signal in a wild elephant can mistake the significance of, and in the same instant 

 he wheeled round with astonishing quickness, getting at once into full speed, and 

 bore straight down upon us. The bamboos by which we were partly hidden were 

 useless as cover, and would have prevented a clear shot, so I stepped out into open 

 ground the instant the elephant commenced his charge. I gave a shout in the 

 hope of stopping him, which failed. I had my No. 4 double smooth-bore loaded 

 with ten drams in hand. I fired when the elephant was about nine paces distant, 

 aiming into his curled trunk about one foot below the fatal bump between the 

 eyes, as his head was held very high, and this allowance had to be made for its 

 elevation. I felt confident of the shot, but made a grand mistake in not giving 

 him both barrels ; it was useless to reserve the left as I did at such close quarters, 

 and I deserved more than what followed for doing so. The smoke from the ten 

 drams obscured the elephant, and I stooped quickly to see where he lay. Good 

 heavens ! he had not been even checked, and was upon me ! There was no time 

 to step right or left. His tusks came through the smoke (his head being now held 

 low) like the cow-catchers of a locomotive, and I had just time to fall flat to avoid 

 being hurled along in front of him. I fell a little to the right ; the next instant 

 down came his ponderous fore-foot within a few inches of my left thigh, and I 

 should have been trodden on had I not been quick enough, when I saw the fore- 

 foot coming, to draw my leg from the sprawling position in which I fell. As the 

 elephant rushed over me he shrieked shrilly, which showed that his trunk was 

 uncoiled; and his head also being held low instead of in charging position, I 

 inferred rightly that he was in full flight. Had he stopped I should have been 

 caught, but the heavy bullet had taken all the fighting out of him. Jaffer had 

 been disposed of by a recoiling bamboo, and was now lying almost in the elephant's 

 line ; fortunately, however, the brute held on. I was covered with blood from the 

 wound inflicted by his late antagonist in his left side ; even my hair was matted 

 together when the blood became dry. The mahout had jumped into the deep and 

 precipitous nalla to our left at the commencement of hostilities." 



Since the elephant in India will not breed to any appreciable 

 extent in captivity, the stock has to be continually replenished by the 

 capture of wild individuals. The methods in vogue are, by driving into keddas, or 

 enclosures ; by hunting with trained females ; by means of pitfalls ; and by noosing 

 from the backs of specially-trained tame animals. Of these, the first only is 

 employed for the capture of whole herds. 



A kedda-party in Bengal comprises three hundred and seventy men, who go 

 out during the winter prepared for a sojourn of two or three months in the jungle. 

 When a herd is discovered, the party divide and go off" in opposite directions so as 

 to surround it, leaving two of their number at distances of about every fifty yards, 

 or rather more. When complete, the circle should have a circumference of six or 

 eight miles ; and when once found, it must be the fault of the men if the herd is 

 not captured. A light fence of split bamboo is rapidly formed round the ring, as 

 are likewise shelters for the men ; and the animals are kept in by firing shots by 

 day and by lighting bonfires at night. After the first two days, however, if the 

 ring be sufficiently large and contain plenty of cover, the elephants give but little 



