Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-03-19
AN ELEPHANT HUNT.
How to Surely Bring the Monarch
Down.
An American Travellers Story of the FRS
One He Killed-N1anner of Trapping
the Beast for Showmcn-Sagaci-
ty of Elephants in Labor.

"Thc day l shot my first elephant
said an old British Indian, Twill Away
bc AIRED lctterday in my sporting calcn
dar. 1t was in the Island of Ceylon
that pearl of the Indian Ocean. lying Al
the foot of the great peninsula of Hin
dostan, The Lanka of the ancicnts and
the Sercndib of the days of Solomon
the Wise, and sacred in the eyes of al
good Bcddhists, for is 1t not there
where the tooth of the great god lie:
upon the golden lotos leaf? Ceylon is
the paradise of sportsmen, the beau
ideal of 3 perfect hunting country. AL
kinds of game abound in the low coun'
try and the vast forests of the interior
of the island, from the lowly and war,
flying snipe to the lordly elephant
True, there are no tigers rs in India.
but they have an equivalent in the
stealthy and fierce cheetah, which, in
strength and cunning very nearly, if it
does not quite, approach the Royal
Bengal
"On the day in question had started,
lin company with a friend, from Trim.
comaiee, the British naval station OF
the island and perhaps the finest har-
ibor in the world, and after driving
some forty miles into the interior We
llcft the DANDY and made tracks into
the Jungle. We were both armed with
express rifles, which in my opinion
are by far the best weapons for elephant
shooting, and we were in hopes that
ere long we would come on the trail OF
the ami nor We're we disappointed,
for sl,ortl attention was drawn BY
the native guides to the young bamboos
on the side Of the path, which bore I'M
:mistakablc signs that an elephant had
been feeding there. Soon we came on
further evidence of his presence, and
on we went, our eyes on the ground
toiling through the jungle afterthe ele
phant. And, oh, the heat! And, oh.
the thirst! Every now and then we
had to halt and wipe the perspiration
from our brows. and send Il native
shining up cocoanut tree for one
OF the young nuts, from which We
eagerly drank the milk. We were
hours toiling after that brute and
thought we would never come up to
him. At last the trail led right into q
SORT of oasis of patna, or grass land, in
the middle of which there was an
islandof jungle. The trail went straight
unto this, SO we were sure
that we had Sir Jumbo at last. NV
friend Jack p. went round to one side
while | remained on the other, and
then we SEN beaters in ut each end tc
drive the elephant out. Suddenly
heard a cracking Of brushwood, then
Il loud trumpet, and Jacks voice
shouting that the elephant had turned
and was coming my way. remember
well wishing dcvoutly that he had gone
in any other direction, but l had not
much time for thinking, as in Il minute
or so out came the huge brute. He
was u rogue and a big one to boot. A
rogue is an elephant that has beer
driven from the herd for some miscon,
duct or other. and he is generally
mad, wandering about the country
alone and doing all the damage he can
His hand is against every man anl
every mans hand is against him. A
rogue elephant is the only kind yo,
al shoot, us the ~elephantsin herdsa arc
very strictly preserved by the Ceylor
Government. Well. when this gentle
maj came out Of the Jungle he gazct
about him for Il second or two, ant
then, catching sight OF me. raised hi;
trunk and gave Il trumpet that woul,
have made the angel Gabriel greer
with envy, and then charged right Il
ne. Now m the difficult part o
elephant shooting. There is only ont
Vulnerable spot on Il Ceylon elephant
and that is II small oval spot, i,
size only a few inches. Just abovt
the trunk. You might fire Il batter,
of Cuttings at any other spot and fail t.
bring him down, and once l counte,
eighteen bullet marks in an elephant
skull we killed, and not one of whicI
had probably given him more than
slight headache. When an elephan
charges he raises his trunk so that i
protects this vital spot, and trumpet
shrilly, hoping by this means, no doubt
to scare the hunter. When he is with
in ten PAGES he lowers his trunk and a
the same time brings his head down
after the manner of Il bull when charo
ing. Now is the time to fire. 1t is II
anxious moment, and for one who WA
but u Griffin at the game it was an
thing but pleasant. There vas n
friendly tree near and there was bu
little chance Of escape through the jur
gle if l missed, us it would require
knife for me to cut through the THO
underground, while the elephant coul
go through it like pack-thrcad. O
came the elephant, the ground almos
shaking beneath his %ponderous treao
Would he never lower that trunk?
stood with my rifle at the present d
m%otionless as a statue, and, just us h
seemed to be right on me, down wel
the trunk. Crack! went my rifle, an
i had to spring back 4 pace or two t
prevent the huge beast from comm
sight on top of me as he fell stone dea
at my feet. The reaction wa