THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 45 



While on the subject of rogues, I believe 

 that in nearly every instance the animal will 

 be found to be suffering from some physical 

 hurt which occasions constant pain, and so 

 turns an inoffensive beast into a savage man- 

 hunter. It may be a broken tusk, as in this 

 case, or old bullet-wounds which have left 

 festering sores. Sanderson's rogue was found to 

 have had his tail bitten off at the root. Maggots 

 swarmed at the stump, and must have caused 

 the poor beast intense suffering. And then, 

 think of the indignity of it ! Who wouldn't 

 be soured by such an outrage ! It reminds one 

 of the story of the German student who, having 

 his nose cut off in a duel, stooped to recover 

 the precious organ in order to clap it on again 

 before it got cold. But before he could execute 

 his design, his unfeeling adversary had put 

 his foot on it and squashed it into a pulp ! 

 If the injured man thereafter went about with 

 murder in his heart who could blame him ? 



Female elephants are often addicted to the 

 practice of biting off each other's tails — a piece 

 of spite that apparently isn't always confined to 

 the feminine sex. Tuskers as a rule, however, are 

 above this sort of thing, and possibly Sander- 

 son's poor rogue suffered from the jealousy of a 

 discarded flame. I once heard a tusker fight 

 taking place in very thick jungle on the out- 

 skirts of a herd. But in trying to get up to 



