CHAPTER XXVI 



At Dharwar again — •Hear of wild elephants in Kanara jungle — Damage done 

 to crops — Native District Officer puzzled — His petition to Govern- 

 ment — Forest officer and myself consulted — Suggestion and inaction 

 — I act on my own — Special shooting camp — An unlucky guest — Some 

 erratic shooting — " Nearly a record bag " — Commendable persever- 

 ance — The elephants at last — A moonUght hunt — Watching the herd 

 — Close quarters — I fire at a bull — A forehead shot — Effect instantane- 

 ous — Another bull floored — Let off a smaU one — The herd makes off 

 — Congratulations — Dangerous " vermin " — Natives' misuse of Eng- 

 lish words and phrases — Slave to rules and regulations — The lonely 

 railway station — Young Bengal — A sudden invasion — Flight of the 

 staff — Besieged in his office — Only one thing to be done — A wire to 

 headquarters — "Tiger in charge" — Realizing the situation — A night 

 of mental torture — Morning brings rehef — Wild dogs — The damage 

 they do — A nuisance to sportsmen — Hunting in packs — Tigers occa- 

 sionally attacked — Description of the animal — Difference between the 

 wild and the domestic dog — Crocodile, method of attacking their victims 

 — The final rush. 



Some years after my return from Somaliland — as far as 

 I can remember some time in the year 1906 — while stationed 

 at Dharwar, I heard of a herd of elephants having crossed 

 over from Mysore, where they are strictly preserved, into 

 the Kanara jungles which borders on Dharwar. 



The advent of these elephants caused such consterna- 

 tion in Kanara, as they were roaming about the country 

 and doing considerable damage to the crops. The collector 

 at the time happening to be a native, and, unfortunately, 

 a Perbu, a caste not remarkable for courage, was much 

 exercised in his mind at the ravages committed by these 

 animals. 



At his wits' end to know what he was to do, he finally 

 solved the difficulty, as he thought, by submitting an 

 urgent appeal to Government in the following language : 

 " That drastic measures should be taken to rid the country 

 of these vermin, as the lives of Her Majesty's subjects, 

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