THE TERROR OF HUNSUR. 41 



his corn by night, and tear the poor wretch to 

 pieces or trample him out of all shape, and it 

 was even said that in his blind rage he would 

 eat portions of his human victims. I may here 

 mention that natives firmly believe that ele- 

 phants will occasionally take to man-eating. It 

 is a common practice when a tiger is killed for 

 the mahouts to dip balls of jaggery (coarse sugar) 

 in the tiger's blood and feed the elephants that 

 took part in the drive with this mess. They say 

 the taste of the tiger's blood gives the elephant 

 courage to face these fierce brutes. The taste 

 for blood thus acquired sticks to the elephant, 

 and when he goes mad or must and takes to 

 killing human beings, some of their blood gets 

 into his mouth and reminds him of the sugar and 

 blood given him at the tiger-hunts, and he occa- 

 sionally indulges in a mouthful of raw flesh. 



Was Peer Bux must, or was he really mad ? The 

 mahouts at Hunsur, who knew him well, said he 

 was only must. Europeans frequently speak of 

 must elephants as " mad " elephants, as though the 

 two terms were synonymous. Must, I may state, 

 is a periodical functional derangement common to 

 all bull elephants, and corresponds to the rutting 

 season with deer and other animals. It generally 

 occurs in the male once a year (usually in March 

 or April), and lasts about two or three months. 

 During this period a dark-coloured mucous dis- 

 charge oozes from the temples. If this discharge 

 is carefully washed off twice a day, and the 

 elephant given a certain amount of opium with 



