ELEPHANTS. 175 



touch has been obtained of the tusker ; but this is a 

 feature of the sport, and some keen shikaries will often 

 camp on the trail, continuing the pursuit next day. 

 Solitary males in cool weather frequently dispense with the 

 midday " snooze," and continue to travel throughout the 

 day, feeding as they go along. My last encounter in the 

 Annamullays was with a wanderer of this sort, not far 

 from Poolakul. At that time (August, 1871), the law 

 forbidding the shooting of elephants was actually in force, 

 but I had been in the heart of the jungles for the best 

 part of the preceding six months, and knew nothing 

 about it. 



The elephants were just beginning to emerge from the 

 unexplored recesses of the mountains, their refuge during 

 the hot weather, to make their annual foray in search of the 

 young herbage, bamboo sprouts, &c., in the forest south of 

 Toonacudavoo, the general line of march being by Poolakul, 

 towards the cardamom jungles in the Travancore country, 

 which was forbidden ground. It was therefore necessary 

 to intercept them before they crossed the boundary of 

 British territory, a river some ten miles west of Poolakul. 

 Starting early one morning in a southerly direction, we 

 walked for several hours without finding any fresh tracks 

 of bison, but about noon struck the trail of a large solitary 

 elephant, apparently over six hours old. The tracks of the 

 fore feet measured four feet eight inches clear round the 

 circumference, and as twice this is equal to the height, he 

 was nine feet four inches at least. The shikaries, as usual, 

 were not keen for the undertaking, pointing out that the 

 tracks were stale, and that they were taking us away from 

 camp towards the Travancore march, which was then some 

 eight miles distant ; but I insisted on following him for a 

 few hours, believing he would rest for some time in the 



