THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 21 



been doing damage in the district, it will suffice 

 to obtain verbal permission to shoot such 

 animals as are known to be the offenders, 

 always provided that they are still engaged 

 nightly in their felonious practices. The pro- 

 spective sportsman may ask, ' How am I to 

 know that the herd I am after is the one which 

 is doing the damage ? ' Well, there is small 

 chance of a mistake in this direction. The 

 sportsman travels from village to village, making 

 inquiries as he goes, until finally he arrives at 

 one close to which the elephants have fed on 

 the paddy-fields the night before. The herd 

 will have made for thick scrub jungle just 

 before daylight, and will be found within a few 

 miles of the village. These are the culprits, 

 and if not driven off they will be certain to 

 pay another visit to the paddy-fields during 

 the night. They take very little notice of the 

 shouts and tom-tomming of the villagers, being 

 well aware that for all their noise they can do 

 no harm. Even shots fired at night only have 

 the effect of driving them off for a few hours, 

 when back they come again. 



Perhaps it would be as well to describe in 

 detail the process to be followed by the sports- 

 man from the time he first gets information 

 of elephants doing damage to the happy moment 

 when a big tusker lies dead before him. In the 

 first place, then, ' khubbar ' is essential, and 

 the best way to obtain it is to have a friend 



