146 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA KS* 
CHAP. 
flat bottom of the watercourse, he was then to 
advance cautiously until near enough to see whether 
the tiger breathed. At the same time I rode 
Demoiselle carefully as near as we could safely 
descend among the rocks to a distance of about 
40 yards; it was so steep that the elephant was 
impossible to turn. From this point of vantage I 
soon perceived Bisgaum’s bulky form advancing up 
the dry torrent-bed. The rocks were a perfectly 
flat red sandstone, which in many places resembled 
artificial pavement; this was throughout the district 
a peculiar geological feature, the surface of the 
stone being covered with ripple-marks, and upon 
this easy path Bisgaum now approached the body 
of the tiger, which lay apparently dead exactly in 
his front. 
Suddenly the elephant halted when about 15 
yards from the object, which had never moved. I 
have seen wild savages frenzied by the exciting 
war-dance, but I never witnessed such an instance 
of hysterical fury as that exhibited by Bisgaum. 
It is impossible to describe the elephantine antics 
of this frantic animal; he kicked right and left 
with his hind legs alternately, with the rapidity of 
a horse ; trumpeting and screaming, he threw his 
trunk in the air, twisting it about, and shaking his 
immense head, until, having lashed himself into a 
sufficient rage, he made a desperate charge at the 
supposed defunct enemy, with the intention of 
treating the body in a similar manner to that a few 
days previous. But the tiger was not quite dead ; 
