fusion of the moment. The trunk severed would
cause a haemorrhage sufficient to insure the death of
the elephant within about an hour. On the other
hand, should the animal be awake upon their arrival,
it would be impossible to approach the trunk; in such
a case, they would creep u p from behind, and give a
tremendous cut at the back sinew of the hind lea-
about a foot above the heel. Such a blow would
disable the elephant at once, and would render comparatively
easy a second cut to the remaining leg ;
the arteries being divided, the animal would quickly
bleed to death. These were the methods adopted by
poor hunters, until, by the sale of ivory, they could
purchase horses for the higher branch of the art.
Provided with horses, the party of hunters should
not exceed four. They start before daybreak, and
ride slowly throughout the country in search of
elephants, generally keeping along the course of a
river until they come upon the tracks where a herd
or a single elephant may have drunk during the night.
When once upon the tracks, they follow fast towards
the. retreating game. The elephants may be twenty
miles distant; but it matters little to the aggageers.
'At length they discover them, and the hunt begins
The first step is to single out the bull with the largest
tusks; this is the commencement of the fight. After
a short hunt, the elephant turns upon his pursuers,
who scatter and fly from his headlong charge until
he gives up the pursuit; he at length turns to bay
when again pressed by the hunters. It is the duty
of one "man in particular to ride up close to the
head of the elephant, and thus to absorb its attention
upon himself. This insures a desperate charge.
The greatest coolness and dexterity are then required
by the hunter, who now, the hunted, must so adapt
the speèd’of his hòrse to the pace of the elephant,
that the enraged beast gains in the race until it
almost reaches the tail of the horse." In this manner
the race continues. In the mean time, two hunters
gallop up behind "the elephant, unseen by the animal,
whose attention is completely directed to thé horse
almost within his grasp. With extrême agility, when
close to the heels of the elephant, one of thè hunters,
while at full speed, springs to . the ground with his
drawn sword, as his companion seizes the bridle, and
with one dexterous two-handed blow he severs the
•back sinew. He immediately jumps out of the way
and remounts his horse ; but if the blow is successful,
thé elephant becomes disabled by the first pressure of
its foot upon the ground; the enormous weight of the
animal dislocates the joint, and it is rendered helpless.
The hunter who has hitherto led the elephant immediately
turns, and riding to’within" a few feet of the
trunk, he : induces the animal to attempt another
.charge. This, clumsily made, affords an easy opportunity
for the aggageers behind to slash the sinew
of the remaining leg, and the immense brute is
reduced ta a stand-still ; it dies of loss of blood in
à short time, thus positively hilled by one man with
two strohes of the sword /