THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 23 



be issued, perhaps, to half a dozen villages, so 

 that one lot, at all events, is pretty certain 

 to have a bang at them, with the result that 

 the elephants will clear out of that part of the 

 district for the time being. Although, as I 

 have said, elephants take little notice of shouts, 

 or even shots, at night, when actually on the 

 paddy-fields, they take quite another view of 

 the matter when followed and fired at during 

 the day. 



We will suppose, then, that the sportsman 

 has lost no time in dogging the elephants from 

 village to village, and has at last located them 

 in thick scrub some few miles from the paddy- 

 fields. Now comes the tug-of-war. Long before 

 you see the herd you are informed of its vicinity 

 by the loud trumpeting of the older beasts, 

 and the squeaking of the youngsters, while 

 the deep rumblings of the herd and the crash 

 of branches torn off the trees tells you that the 

 elephants are unsuspicious and still feeding. 

 Your Burmans now begin to point excitedly, 

 and suddenly develop a suspicious politeness, 

 assigning to you a prominent position which 

 you could well dispense with. The noise the 

 huge brutes are making is almost drowned 

 in the beating of your own heart, which is 

 thumping under your shirt in an absurdly noisy 

 and officious manner. Keeping the wind, you 

 now get up to the herd, and presently make out 

 the legs or head of a cow or young tusker, 



