THE WAINAAD FOREST. Ill 



" Late in the afternoon vre came upon the first herd of wild ele- 

 phants I ever saw. They were moving quietly along through the 

 forest, a quarter of a mile from us, and after watching them for a 

 while at a distance, we went our way without disturbing them. 

 Half an hour later we came upon the same herd, this time where 

 there was better cover from which to observe them. The herd con- 

 sisted of one fine old tusker, one young tusker, five females, and 

 two babies. They were feeding upon the grass, pulling up long 

 bunches and jerking it from side to side to shake the dirt from the 

 roots, then winding it up to their mouths. Some tkrew quantities 

 of dry dirt over their backs, others fanned themselves with leafy 

 branches. I wanted that old tusker for his skin and skeleton, but 

 I had no light to shoot him there, or even attempt it, without laying 

 myself hable to a hea\y fine, and so we again left the herd and went 

 ovu' wav. 



"We walked on another half-hour, and came upon the herd for 

 a thii'd time. This was too much for human endui-ance. Twice had 

 we resisted temptation, but here it was once more. I determined 

 to kill that largest tusker then and there, if possible, and take 

 the consequences. The highest possible fine would be five hun- 

 dred rupees, and he would be worth that as a specimen. "When 

 my companion saw my intention he retii-ed a quarter of a mile, and 

 cHmbed a tree. I loaded mv No. 10 with hardened balls and six 

 drachms, quite enough for any elephant, I thought, and took up my 

 position in advance of the herd. The old tusker was behind the 

 rest, sauntering slowly along, feeding as he went. I crept up 

 through the grass, keeping a tree-trunk all the time exactly be- 

 tween his eye and me, and stole fi-om one tree to another, until at 

 last I got within thii-ty feet of him. But unfortunately he kept his 

 forehead from me, and I only knew about the front head shot. He 

 passed on and I had to stalk him again. I stalked him at least six 

 different times, but somehow his forehead was always away from 

 me, and I would not fire at any other pai-t. 



" The elephant is certainly the most stupid animal I ever tried 

 to approach. He is as easily stalked as an old sitting-hen. Evi- 

 dently his hearing, sight, and scent are alike dull, or I would have 

 been discovered. At one time the whole herd was feeding around 

 me in a semi-circle, in a space not larger than could be covered by 

 an ordinary circus-tent, and it seemed as if the elephants were in a 

 menagerie, they were so near and so quiet 



" At last I had a reasonably fair chance at the tusker at twenty 



