52 THE ASIATIC ELEPHANT. 



Elephants usually go in herds, varying in number from four or five, to sixty or seventy. 

 When in herds they are generally quite harmless, and a child might put a hundred to flight ; 

 but a solitary bull is often a savage and dangerous brute, attacking and killing everyone he 

 can. Occasionally one of these ' rogues ' will haunt a certain road and completely stop the 

 traffic as long as he remains. 



There was one which used to haunt the Dehra Doon, and which was said to have killed 

 many people, and even destroyed houses. I fancy, however, that the depredations of several 

 Elephants were laid to the charge of one. He was always described as the ' khiinnP or 

 murderer Elephant, with one heavy tusk and one stump. I once thought I had shot him, 

 but was disappointed, as hereafter related, and I do not know what was his ultimate fate. 



I have often heard people talk of Elephant-shooting as cruel and unsportsmanlike ; for 

 what reason I cannot imagine. I do not think that anyone who has stood the charge of a 

 wild Elephant could describe the sport as tame ! I certainly think it is a great shame to 

 slaughter numbers of female Elephants which might be caught and made useful, and which 

 have no tusks to make them worth the shooting ; but if the sportsman confines himself to 

 old males he will be doing more good than harm by their destruction, while he will enjoy 

 one of the most exciting sports in the world. 



I have been singularly unlucky in Elephant-shooting, and am still unable to account for 

 not having bagged several fine tuskers ; but I am aware that there is a certain knowledge 

 of angles which one must acquire before one can be successful, and that I am not the only 

 man who, though otherwise a fair shot, has failed in his early attempts at Elephant-shooting. 

 The brain is the deadly spot in which to hit the Elephant, but in order to do this the aim 

 must be taken according to the position of the head, and this is what requires great 

 experience. In order to succeed, it is necessary to get as close to the Elephant as possible, 

 anything over fifteen yards being considered a long shot. In approaching an Elephant, the 

 direction of the wind is of paramount importance ; no animal has a more delicate sense of 

 smell, though its sight is by no means so acute. 



I know few more exciting sensations than that of tracking an Elephant among high 

 grass and jungle, when one expects every moment to come upon him. I know I have felt 

 my heart beat pretty quickly while doing so, and have felt it " come into my mouth " when 

 a Chital has uttered its sharp bark, or rushed through the jungle within a few yards of me ! 

 But as soon as the mighty game is viewed, excitement gives place to perfect coolness. A 

 short account of my own adventures with Elephants, unsuccessful though they have been, 

 may give some idea of the sport. 



I first saw wild Elephants in 1863. On the 2nd of June I was encamped in the Undera 

 Kohl (dark glen), near the Mohun pass through the Sewalik hills. I had come to the ' kohl' 

 on purpose to look for a herd of Elephants which I had heard had lately arrived there. In 

 the evening I went up to the head of the ' kohl} directing my camp to follow me. I had 

 not hunted very long before I discovered a herd of about fifteen Elephants standing on an 

 open sort of table-land. I lay down and watched them, but could see no tusker. I had 

 intended to fire at no tuskless Elephant, but I found the temptation too strong, and 



