X. WOLVES AND WILD DOGS

Space does not permit an exhaustive description of these vermin, and it must be briefly said that there are three kinds of wolves in India. First is the ordinary wolf of the plains (Canis pallipes) which is more destructive to children and cattle than to game, and is generally called ‘Bheria’ by the natives. Authenticated tales of its ravages among the infant population are only too common, an old bitch wolf with cubs laid up near a village naturally finding Indian baby the most easily procured and most succulent diet for her offspring. Wolves have occasionally been ridden down and speared, but only when found in the morning, and more or less gorged; a wolf in the evening, when empty, will lope along just ahead of good greyhounds till the latter lie down exhausted. They can occasionally be smoked out if their earths are found. Williamson describes a big bag made in this way near Allahabad in 1780; the earths were dug out, and at least ten pounds weight of children’s ornaments found in them. He also narrates a ghastly story of the way wolves attacked the starving natives during the famine of 1783 in broad daylight; as a rule, however, they seldom attack men.

The next well-known varieties are the grey and black Thibetan wolves (Canis laniger and Canis niger), generally called ‘Chanko.’ These are very destructive to game as well as to flocks and herds, as they hunt in small packs. Both grey and black wolves are found together, and interbreed. The black wolf is said to be rather the larger, but it is an open question whether the varieties are distinct or not, in spite of the fact of the black specimens Colonel Kinloch presented to the Zoological Gardens only producing black cubs.

A third variety of ‘Chanko,’ called the ‘golden wolf,’ has been mentioned by sportsmen, but this may possibly be the European wolf (Canis lupus), which extends to Turkestan.

The chief points of distinction between the three varieties of wolves, i.e. European, Thibetan, and Indian, are as follows: in the European wolf the carnassial tooth is as long as the two molars together, which is not the case with the others; it has also a dark stripe on the forelegs, which the others have not; and, lastly, the European and Indian wolves have black tips to their tails, which the chanko has not.

The remaining species of vermin is the Wild Dog (Cuon rutilans), generally called ‘Jungli-Kutta’: in Cashmere ‘Ram Hun.’ These veritable pests are found everywhere, and as they hunt in large packs are most destructive to all kinds of game, absolutely clearing out whole tracts of country, even being credited occasionally with killing tigers, which, as Sanderson points out, is by no means impossible if the tiger attempts to run away, and they get a chance of making their favourite attack from behind. He narrates two occasions on which he saw deer eviscerated by one or two snaps from wild dogs. They rarely, if ever, attack men, and are more like big red jackals than dogs. The cubs are quite untamable, and are the nastiest, most evil-smelling, vicious pets that heart could desire.

Measurements

Authority	Total length	Tail	Height at shoulder
Canis Lupus
	ins.	ins.	ins.
Sterndale	62 to 68	20	30 to 32
Canis pallipes
Sterndale	52	16 to 18	26
Canis laniger
Sterndale	68	20	30
Cuon rutilans
Sterndale	48 to 52	16	17 to 20
Major Ward	60	..	..

XI. THE STRIPED HYÆNA (Hyæna striata)

Native names: ‘Lakhar baghar’ generally; ‘Rerha,’ Central India

This is scarcely a sporting beast, but being destructive to dogs is generally saluted with a shot if found by daylight, a thing which does not often happen. The striped hyæna is a large brute, with tremendous power of jaw, which lives principally on carrion, and will pick up a dog if found alone, though two or three dogs will easily beat it off. The hyæna has often been ridden down and speared, and shows little or no fight in spite of its large teeth. Hyænas are found all over the plains of India, but apparently neither in Burmah nor Ceylon. There were several which used to prowl about the barracks at Nowgong in Central India when the writer was quartered there, two or three of which were shot by the soldiers, and the jackals there paid them all the honours usually accorded to tigers, following them and uttering their peculiar note of warning which the natives call ‘kole baloo.’ The writer has often heard this cry, and as long as it continues no jackal within earshot will set up his ordinary howl. This hyæna is the common species that is found throughout Persia, Asia Minor, and North Africa.

Sterndale gives its length as 3½ ft., head and body; tail, about 1½ ft. The writer never measured one, but estimated the height of an old male as about 22 ins.

XII. ELEPHANT (Elephas indicus)

Native names: ‘Hati’ generally; ‘Anay,’ Canarese (Sanderson); ‘Allia,’ Singhalese (Sterndale).

The elephant is found along the foot of the Himalayas, from Deyhra Doon through Assam and Burmah to Siam; also in some parts of Central and Southern India and Ceylon.

The difference between the Indian and African elephant is well marked; the small ears, smooth trunk, and more intelligent head of the former being very conspicuous. The marks on the grinders are also different, being in the Indian elephant irregular loops, while in the African they form a string of decided lozenges joined by the corners. The African elephant has only three toes on the hind foot, while the Indian has four. The point of difference, however, which chiefly concerns the sportsman is that in the Indian elephant there is a cavity in the skull behind the bump on the top of the trunk which enables a bullet properly placed to reach the brain, while with the African variety this cavity is protected by the roots of the tusks, making the front shot ineffective.

The main points to be considered by the sportsman may be shortly summarised as follows:

The brain, which at most only presents a mark of about twelve inches in length by six inches in height, is situated low down and far back in the skull, the centre of it being nearly in the line between the two ear-holes. The three chief shots are the front shot, in the centre of the forehead towards the top of the bump at the base of the trunk, and about three inches higher than a line drawn between the eyes; the temple shot, the head of the elephant being at right angles to the sportsman, through the ear-hole in a line to pass through the opposite ear; the rear shot, behind the ear in the hollow just over the large bump at the junction of the jaw and neck. It must be taken at about an angle of 45° with the elephant’s course from behind. These are the shots to be tried for; if the elephant’s head is inclined at an angle, calculation has to be made to determine the line of the brain. If charging with the head carried high and trunk curled, it is almost impossible to kill him with a front shot, but heavy rifles will generally stop him. In head shots an elephant not killed on the spot generally escapes, so no time should be lost in finishing one that is floored. For weapon, a 4-smoothbore spherical ball with twelve drachms of powder is recommended. Indian elephants are seldom shot behind the shoulder, for as Sanderson says, ‘When an elephant can be approached to within a few yards, and dropped on the spot, it is hardly sportsmanlike to take a long shot, and risk wounding the animal uselessly.’ Females in a herd are always the first to charge. The tuskers are most likely to be found in the rear guard of a herd, and the animals should not be approached in cover unless they are feeding. A peculiar short, shrill trumpet is the sign that the hunter has been discovered; the herd stands perfectly still for some minutes and then closes up and moves rapidly off; or, if the elephant that perceives danger discovers that it is very near, it retires quickly without a sound, followed by the rest, so that the hunter may find the whole herd gone before he is aware that he has even been perceived. If a herd is attacked it stampedes, and if hard pressed the females with calves will charge.

When a herd stampedes in cover, as it is impossible to tell the direction it will take, the best course the sportsman can adopt is to stand still against a tree or a bamboo clump, and not attempt to run. A tree eight inches in diameter is said to be about the largest that an elephant can overthrow. If circumstances ever occur to make a run unavoidable, the flight should always be down hill and the steepest places at hand chosen, as elephants fear to trust themselves on a rapid descent at any great pace; up hill or on the level a man would be speedily overtaken on rough ground.

When a herd makes off it goes at a great pace for a short distance and then settles into a fast walk, which is often kept up for ten or fifteen miles if there is a wounded elephant and no young calves with it. The sportsman should pursue at once, as an ordinary runner can generally keep near for two or three hundred yards.

When elephants are close at hand, standing in indecision, no one should shout to turn them, as a charge from one or more of them is almost sure to be the result. A friend of the writer’s told him that once when stalking an elephant he could not get a fair shot at his head, so he whistled to make him turn; the elephant simply swung round and charged, but a shot in the head, though it did not floor, turned him.

The impression of the tusks in soft soil gives a good idea of their size. A groove that will admit five fingers means that the tusks will probably weigh over 60 lbs. the pair. Twice round the forefoot gives the height of the elephant at the shoulder.

In shooting single elephants, after the first rush of a hundred yards or so all noise often ceases, as the elephant breaks into a walk, and a novice would suppose that he had stopped when in reality he is rapidly retreating.

In following wounded elephants it is a good plan to send a couple of trackers ahead while the sportsman and his gun-carriers follow a hundred yards in rear, as the trackers, if alone, are not likely to be taken by surprise. Rogue elephants, though more liable to attack in the first place, are not more determined than others; a female with a young calf is much more likely to charge persistently, and the advantage of having only one animal to deal with is immense.

The wild elephant’s attack is one of the noblest sights of the chase. A grander animated object than a wild elephant in full charge can hardly be imagined; the cocked ears and broad forehead present an immense frontage; the head is held high, with the trunk curled between the tusks to be uncoiled in the moment of attack; the massive forelegs come down with the force and regularity of ponderous machinery, and the whole figure is rapidly foreshortened, and appears to double in size with each advancing stride. The trunk being curled and unable to emit any sound, the attack is made in silence, after the usual premonitory shriek, which adds to its impressiveness. A tiger’s charge is an undignified display of arms, legs, and spluttering; the bison rushes blunderingly upon his foe; the bear’s attack is despicable; but the wild elephant’s onslaught is as dignified as it seems overwhelming; and a large tusker’s charge, when he has had sufficient distance to get into full swing, can only be compared to the steady and rapid advance of an engine on a line of rail. With all this, the sportsman who understands his game knows that there is a natural timidity in the elephant which often plays him tricks at the last moment. It is not difficult to turn or stop him with heavy metal, and if knocked down, he never, I believe, renews the attack.

Thus Sanderson writes, and in conventional phraseology that is all very fine; but Sanderson seems to have let his feelings run away with him. I confess that a tiger charging never appeared undignified to me; his charge has always struck me as being a particularly neat, business-like performance, and the coughing roar that accompanied it did not at all detract from the show—spluttering indeed! Sanderson’s elephant does not roar because he is afraid of hurting his trunk. Then the poor bison a blunderer! The way an old bull will charge, dodge behind a bush till he sees someone following him or hears someone speak, and then charge back again, shows an amount of systematic ‘cussedness’ which deserves praise not ridicule. As for the bear, his best friends must admit that his natural grotesqueness is only enhanced by his efforts at retaliation; but he does his best.

With a single exception, all those elephants which Sanderson shot behind the shoulder seem to have given him a long chase before he could bring them to bay, probably because the position of the heart is much harder to judge in the Indian than in the African species, the centre of the outside edge of the latter’s ear when thrown back marking the spot. It is not so with the Indian elephant, whose ear is smaller.

A fight between two wild tuskers is said frequently to last for a day or more, a round being fought every now and then. The more powerful elephant occasionally keeps his foe in view till he perhaps kills him.

Though elephant catching is of old date, shooting wild elephants seems to have been unheard of at the beginning of the century. Williamson, who wrote about the year 1805, remarks with reference to M. Vaillant’s exploits in South Africa:

Without disparagement to M. Vaillant’s veracity, I should think I might with great safety venture a wager that no native of Bengal, nor any European resident there, would undertake such a piece of rashness as to go out shooting wild elephants; and that, in the event of anyone possessing such temerity, the sportsman would come off second best. M. Vaillant performed his miracles in a wilderness, without anyone to record his achievements; consequently he was obliged to be his own historian. Persons under such circumstances are in possession of one great advantage: namely, that of relating not only the facts as they would appear to any common observer, but of describing the wondrous coolness and presence of mind which pervades them throughout the perils of the enterprise.

Sanderson says the largest elephant he has seen measured 9 ft. 10 ins. at the shoulder, and declares there is not a 10-ft. elephant in India. Colonel Kinloch measured one he shot 10 ft. 1 in., and the writer has seen a foot in Mr. Rowland Ward’s shop that measured 5 ft. in circumference, which should make the animal 10 ft. at the shoulder.

Sterndale gives 10 ft. 7½ ins. as the largest authentic measurement on record, and oddly enough quotes Sanderson as authority for the measurement of this elephant, which belonged to the Sirmoor Rajah.

As regards tusks, Sanderson’s biggest pair measured 4 ft. 11 ins. and 5 ft. respectively, with a girth of 16½ ins. at the gum, the pair weighing 74½ lbs.

Sir Victor Brooke’s big tusker measured: Right tusk, 8 ft.; 5 ft. 9 ins. outside socket; girth 1 ft. 4⁹⁄₁₀ ins.; weight, 90 lbs. Left tusk, 3 ft. 3 ins.; 1 ft. 2 ins. outside socket; girth, 1 ft. 8 ins.; weight, 49 lbs.

The skeleton of the well-known Arcot rogue elephant, now in the Madras Museum, measures 10 ft. 6 ins. at the shoulder. Mr. Rowland Ward considers that when alive it must have stood 10 ft. 10 ins.

‘Jumbo,’ the African elephant in the Zoological Gardens, stood 11 ft., and Sir S. Baker says that African elephants measure 12 ft. or more.

The three largest African tusks recorded in ‘Horn Measurements,’ by Rowland Ward, are:

Length	Greatest circumference	Weight
ft. ins.	ins.	lbs.
9 5	22½	184
9 4	20½	160
9 4	18	110