THE FATE OF THE AHNAY PAYEE. 179 



phant set off up stream. Were we to lose it 

 after all ? Our guns were in the nullah, some hun- 

 dred yards away. No ! here comes a Sholiga with 

 them. Bdomay Gowda had sent him off at once 

 for them, immediately we were in safety. ' Come, 

 sir ! come this way ! The nullah takes a bend 

 up stream, and we can get ahead of the elephant 

 easily/ said Boomay Gowda, and off we set at a 

 run. We got to the bank, and concealed ourselves 

 behind some bushes. Now we heard the elephant 

 coming along, stumbling over the stones, and 

 making as much noise as a whole herd of cattle 

 rushing down a steep. I could see the blood oozing 

 out of the wound in its head, and its face was one 

 mass of blood, with the flicking of its ears. I was 

 quite cool now. It is opposite me, not ten paces 

 off. Its ear is quite exposed. I fire ! It drops 

 like a shot. Not a move. Thank God ! it is 

 ours ! " 



Old elephant hunters will recognise at once the 

 plan adopted by Boomay Gowda to bring the 

 elephant to the hunters. It is a device practised 

 by the wild tribes of the Garo Hills, as well 

 as the jungle races in the South of India, to 

 entice male elephants to their pit-falls. Certain 

 ingredients are mixed with water, and this 

 is dropped on the ground, here and there, in 

 the direction in which the male is to be enticed. 



12* 



