148 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS chap, iv 
At length, after about half a mile passed in anxiety, 
we discovered Bisgaum and his mahout both safe 
upon an open plain ; the latter torn and bleeding 
from countless scratches while rushing through the 
thorny jungle. 
On the following day the elephant’s leg was 
much swollen, although the wounds appeared to be 
very slight. It is probable that a portion of the 
broken tooth remained in the flesh, as the leg 
festered, and became so bad that the elephant could 
not travel for nearly a fortnight afterwards. The 
mahouts are very obstinate, and insist upon native 
medicines, their famous lotion being a decoction of 
Mhowa blossoms, which in my opinion aggravated 
the inflammation of the wound. 
I returned Bisgaum to the Commissariat stables 
at Jubbulpur directly that he could march, as he 
was too uncontrollable for sporting purposes. Had 
any person been upon his back during his stampede 
he would have been swept off by the branches and 
killed ; the mahout, sitting low upon his neck, could 
accommodate his body to avoid the boughs. 
The use of the elephant in India is so closely 
associated with tiger-shooting that I shall commence 
the next chapter with the tiger. 
