ELEPHANTS. 
539 
went his ears and up went his tail, in a way which no one who has once seen the 
signal in a wild elephant can mistake the significance of, and in the same instant 
he wheeled round with astonishing quickness, getting at once into full speed, and 
bore straight down upon us. The bamboos by which we were partly hidden were 
useless as cover, and would have prevented a clear shot, so I stepped out into open 
ground the instant the elephant commenced his charge. I gave a shout in the 
hope of stopping him, which failed. I had my No. 4 double smooth-bore loaded 
with ten drams in hand. I fired when the elephant was about nine paces distant, 
aiming into his curled trunk about one foot below the fatal bump between the 
eyes, as his head was held very high, and this allowance had to be made for its 
elevation. I felt confident of the shot, but made a grand mistake in not giving 
him both barrels; it was useless to reserve the left as I did at such close quarters, 
and I deserved more than what followed for doing so. The smoke from the ten 
drams obscured the elephant, and I stooped quickly to see where he lay. Good 
heavens! he had not been even checked, and was upon me ! There was no time 
to step right or left. His tusks came through the smoke (his head being now held 
low) like the cow-catchers of a locomotive, and I had just time to fall flat to avoid 
being hurled along in front of him. I fell a little to the right; the next instant 
down came his ponderous fore-foot within a few inches of my left thigh, and I 
should have been trodden on had I not been quick enough, when I saw the fore¬ 
foot coming, to draw my leg from the sprawling position in which I fell. As the 
elephant rushed over me he shrieked shrilly, which showed that his trunk was 
uncoiled; and his head also being held low instead of in charging position, I 
inferred rightly that he was in full flight. Had he stopped I should have been 
caught, but the heavy bullet had taken all the fighting out of him. Jaffer had 
been disposed of by a recoiling bamboo, and was now lying almost in the elephant’s 
line; fortunately, however, the brute held on. I was covered with blood from the 
wound inflicted by his late antagonist in his left side; even my hair was matted 
together when the blood became dry. The mahout had jumped into the deep and 
precipitous nalla to our left at the commencement of hostilities.” 
Since the elephant in India will not breed to any appreciable 
Capture. . ^ J1 
extent in captivity, the stock has to be continually replenished by the 
capture of wild individuals. The methods in vogue are, by driving into keddcis, or 
enclosures ; by hunting with trained females; by means of pitfalls; and by noosing 
from the backs of specially-trained tame animals. Of these, the first only is 
employed for the capture of whole herds. 
A kedda-party in Bengal comprises three hundred and seventy men, who go 
out during the winter prepared for a sojourn of two or three months in the jungle. 
When a herd is discovered, the party divide and go off in opposite directions so as 
to surround it, leaving two of their number at distances of about every fifty yards, 
or rather more. When complete, the circle should have a circumference of six or 
eight miles; and when once found, it must be the fault of the men if the herd is 
not captured. A light fence of split bamboo is rapidly formed round the ring, as 
are likewise shelters for the men; and the animals are kept in by firing shots by 
day and by lighting bonfires at night. After the first two days, however, if the 
ring be sufficiently large and contain plenty of cover, the elephants give but little 
