II 
THE ELEPHANT 
57 
like Colonel Bloomfield’s elephant, already described, 
became the terror of the district, and destroyed 
many villagers, until it was decided by the authori¬ 
ties to attempt its destruction. 
Mr. Sanderson was of opinion that it was too 
valuable to be heedlessly sacrificed; he therefore 
determined to capture it alive, if possible, through 
the aid of certain clever elephants belonging to the 
keddah establishment. 
The police of the district were ordered to obtain 
the necessary information, and the malefactor was 
reported after a few days to have destroyed another 
village, where it remained, devouring the rice and 
grain in the absence of the panic-stricken villagers. 
No time was lost in repairing to the spot with 
three highly-trained elephants, two of which were 
females ; the third was a well-known fighting male, 
a tusker named Moota Gutche, who was usually 
employed to dominate the obstreperous wild ele¬ 
phants when refractory in the keddah enclosures. 
The necessary ropes and chains were prepared, 
and the small but experienced party started, Mr. 
Sanderson being armed only with a long spear, and 
riding on the pad, well girthed upon the back of 
Moota Gutche. 
A short hour’s march brought them in sight of 
a ruined village on a level plain, which skirted a 
dense forest. When within a quarter of a mile, a large 
male elephant was discovered restlessly walking to 
and fro as though keeping guard over the ruins he 
had made. This was the culprit taken in the act. 
