56 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP 
and grass in the heart of an extensive jungle. The 
elephant awoke before they could distinctly see its 
form, owing to the extreme thickness of the covert, 
but the fight commenced. There was a consider¬ 
able difference between the attack upon defenceless 
villagers, who fled before it in hopeless panic, and 
a stand-up fight wdth two experienced European 
shikaris armed with the best rifles; the terror of the 
district quickly showed its appreciation of discretion, 
and, badly wounded, it retreated through the forest, 
well followed by the determined hunters. Again 
and again it was overtaken, and a shot was taken 
whenever the dense jungle afforded an opportunity. 
At length, maddened by pursuit and wounds, it 
turned to charge, thereby exposing itself in an open 
place, and both bullets crashed into its brain, the 
shot from Colonel Bloomfield’s rifle passing com¬ 
pletely through its head. 
It would be impossible to determine whether 
such an elephant could have been subdued and re¬ 
domesticated had its capture been effected. There 
are many cases on record where a must ” elephant 
has committed grievous depredations, after killing 
those who were its ordinary attendants, but when 
re-captured, the temporary excitement has passed 
away, and the animal has become as harmless as it 
was before the period of insanity. Mr. G. P. 
Sanderson, the superintendent of the Government 
keddahs in Assam, gives a vivid description of an 
elephant that escaped after killing its mahout and 
several villagers in the neighbourhood. This animal. 
