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 speed of his
horse 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 meantime, two hunters
gallop up behind the elephant, unseen by the animal, whose
attention is completely directed to the horse almost within his
grasp. With extreme agility, when close to the heels of the
elephant, one of the 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.
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