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.