Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1880-11-29
ELEPHANTS-HOW THEY
ARE HUNTED, ETC.

Twice round an elephants fore-foot
gives his height to within an inch or
two. AS regards age, looking to their
peculiar dentition and other circum-
stances, Mr.. Sapderson thinks it by no
means improbable that elephants live to
$50 or 200 years. No one has ever,
apparently, seen the remains of a dead
elephant, and this circumstance is so
marked as to have given rise to the be-
lief among some wild tribes that wild
elephants never die; whilst others be-
lieve that there is place unseen by
human eyes to which they retire to end
their days. In Mr.. Sanderson's wan
derings for years through elephant jun
giles, he has not only never seen the re-
mains of an elephant that had died a
natural death, but he has never met
any one among the jungle tribes or pro-
fessional hunters who had. The Cinga-
lese have a superstition that on feeling
the approach of dissolution the elephant
retires to solitary valley and there re-
signs himself to death. There is sim.
liar belief in India, but Mr.. Sanderson
shows that it is untenable. One would
not expects to hear that elephants are
expert swimmers. though they can no
more jump trench eight feet wide than
they can dance hornpipe. Such, how
ever, seems to be the case, from the
fact that large numbers of them are
annually sent across the tideway of the
Ganges between Dacca and Barrackpore,
and are sometimes six consecutive hours
without touching the bottom. Mr..
Sanderson has seen an elephant swim a
river 800 yards wide with his hind legs
tied together. They are sometimes
drowned, apparently by being attacked
with cramp or with fit.
The belief that wild elephants have
decreased in India, is shown by Mr..
Sanderson to be incorrect. The records
of the past so years attest that there is
no diminution in the numbers now OBJ
tainable in Bengal, whilst in southern
India elephants have become so numer-
Gus of late years that they are annually
appearing in places where they have
never been heard of before. In fact
Mr.. Sanderson thinks that unless some
thing be done, the rife will have to be
used to protect the ryots of tracts bor-
dering upon elephant jungles. To give
an idea of the number of wild elephants
IN some parts of India. the lecturer
stated that during the past three years
500 elephants have been captured by
the Dacca Klieddah establishment in a
tract of county 40 miles long by &c
broad in the Caro- hills, whilst not les.
than 1000 were met during the hunt.
ing operations. The lecturer gave a
graphic description of capturing and
training the elephant. Here is an ex
tract: when an elephant chases the
men they betake themselves to the shell
ter of tree trunks, bamboo clumps OF
long grass, and it is astonishing to SEE
how they frequently escape uninjured
l have known many cases of men stand
ing against tree or hiding in turfts O
long grass. within couple of yards o.
elephants that were pausing in indecis
ion without being discovered, though
the elephants were evidently aware o.
their close proximity. as they kickec
up the ground in anger and then made
off. In such cases the slightest move
ment would have led to the hunters be
ing instantly trampled to death. Mer
are frequently killed, of course, bu
they are almost all young hands wht
are learning. | saw one such make ;
narrow escape few months ago. HI
ran from an elephant and climbed I
tree; the elephant butted the trunl
and the man fell down, but his pursue
was so astonished at the sight that sh'
fed at once. Sometimes drives are con
Quoted by torch light. and these seldom
fail, owing to the elephants fear Of fire
The scenes on these occasions are ex
citing beyond description.-Londo'
Globe.