86 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
bitted, what must be the result should an elephant 
be guided by a mahout of uncertain temperament ? 
The great trouble when travelling on an elephant is 
the difficulty in getting the mahout to obey an order 
immediately, and at the same time to convey that 
order to the animal without the slightest hesitation. 
Natives frequently hesitate before they determine 
the right from left. This is exasperating to the 
highest degree, and is destructive to the discipline 
of an elephant. There must be no uncertainty ; if 
there is the slightest vacillation, it will be felt in¬ 
stinctively in the muscles of the rider, and the 
animal, instead of obeying mechanically the requisite 
pressure of knee or foot, feels that the mahout does 
not exactly know what he is about. This will cause 
the elephant to swing his head, instead of keeping 
steady and obeying the order without delay. In 
the same manner, when tiger-shooting, the elephant 
will at once detect anything like tremor on the part 
of his mahout. Frequently a good elephant may 
be disgraced by the nervousness of his guide, 
nothing being so contagious as fear. 
Although I may be an exception in the non¬ 
admiration of the elephant’s sagacity to the de¬ 
gree in which it is usually accepted, there is no 
one who more admires or is so foolishly fond of 
elephants. I have killed some hundreds in my 
early life, but I have learnt to regret the past, and 
nothing would now induce me to shoot an elephant 
unless it were either a notorious malefactor, or in 
self-defence. There is, however, a peculiar contra- 
