54 
IVILI) BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
intellect, and to have exaggerated its powers for 
mischief and cunning. It became the scourge, not 
only of the immediate neighbourhood, but of a con¬ 
siderable portion of a district which included an area 
of a hundred miles in length by forty or fifty in 
width. 
No village was safe from the attack of this in¬ 
furiated beast. It would travel great distances, 
and appear at unexpected intervals, suddenly 
presenting itself to the horrified villagers, who fled 
in all directions, leaving their homes and their sup¬ 
plies of grain to be demolished by the omnipotent 
intruder, who tore down their dwellings, ransacked 
their stores of corn, and killed any unfortunate person 
who came within its reach. 
There was a cruel love of homicide in this animal 
that has rarely been recorded. Not only would it 
attack villages in pursuit of forage, but it was par¬ 
ticularly addicted to the destruction of the lofty 
watching-places in the fields, occupied nightly by the 
villagers to scare wild animals from their crops. 
These watch-houses are generally constructed upon 
strong poles secured by cross-pieces, on the top of 
which, about sixteen feet from the ground, is a small 
hut upon a platform. This is thatched to protect 
the occupant from the heavy dew or rain. From 
such elevated posts the watchers yell and scream 
throughout the night to frighten the wild beasts. 
To attack and tear down such posts was the delight 
of this bloodthirsty elephant. Instead of being scared 
by the shouts of the inmates, it was attracted by their 
