THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 9 



assured me that this was the beast whose tusks 

 he had seen, so I proceeded to stalk him without 

 more ado. Luckily I had the wind. At first 

 everything went well, but when within a hundred 

 yards of them I suddenly came almost on top 

 of a wretched little tusker, who was standing, 

 fortunately, with his back to me, under the 

 shade of a large tree. I was in terror that he 

 would discover me ; but no, there he stood 

 peacefully dozing, in happy unconsciousness of 

 my presence, and allowed me to pass him within 

 ten yards. The remainder of the detachment 

 was on the far side and a little in advance of 

 the big fellow, with the exception of the cow, 

 who was standing close up against him on the 

 near side, both animals being broadside on to 

 me. Bent double, I crept up to them, with 

 Allah Din, as I afterwards found, close on 

 my heels. He must have followed very noise- 

 lessly, for I had forgotten all about him in 

 the excitement of the stalk, and only dis- 

 covered his presence when I had fired. I was 

 now within ten yards of the bull, but his 

 tusks were still hidden behind the cow. Only 

 those who have hunted big game can realise 

 my feelings as I stood within a few paces of one 

 of the finest elephants in Asia, unable to take 

 advantage of a chance which comes to a man 

 once in a lifetime. To fire without getting a 

 glimpse of his ivories was not to be thought of. 

 Allah Din in his hurried glance might very easily 



