CHAPTER XVI. 



ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN THE FOEEST ABOUND THE 

 BASE OF THE NEILGHEREIES. 



'• Trampling his path through wood and brake, 

 And canes which, crackling, fall before his way, 

 And tassel-grass, whose silvery feathers play, 

 O'erlapping the young trees. 

 On comes the elephant to slake 

 His thirst at noon in yon pellucid spring." 



The elephant-hunter's qualifications, " Mighty Hunters." — The 

 start. — The Coonoor Pass. — The trail.^ — Signs of a tusker. — 

 The herd. — A bull-elephant dies. — A cow and calf fall. — 

 The bivouac. 



Any sportsman who is a fair shot, cool, steady, per- 

 severing, and active, may count upon killing heavy 

 bags of most kinds of game with tolerable certainty ; 

 but he who would slay the elephant in his trackless 

 jungle-home must have other qualities combined, or 

 he will fail in his attempt. 



The elephant-hunter must have a thorough know- 

 ledjie of the nature and habits of that sagacious 



