Introduction xi 



also has man, and perhaps chiefly for the same 

 reason, — that the leader or rider was not 

 trusted, that he has communicated his fear or 

 indecision by voice, by pressure of knees or 

 hands, and that, in this absence of authority, 

 each was free to follow natural instincts which 

 before were under control. 



It is a common saying in India that an 

 elephant once mauled by a tiger is ever after 

 useless for sport ; it is also the fashion to 

 assert that the sporting elephant has nothing 

 to fear from a tiger. Both of these statements 

 are far from the truth. When man, with the 

 aid of a line of elephants, is engaged in putting 

 a tiger to death, retaliation on his part is 

 practically out of the question ; but it is another 

 matter when a single elephant proposes to 

 drive a wounded tiger out of high grass where 

 he lies invisible and can choose his own oppor- 

 tunity for assault. In such cases a female 

 elephant has no weapons of defence, and the 

 male only in cases where a frontal attack is 

 delivered ; while both are prevented by careful 

 training from taking any initiative whatever 



