A “ MAN EATING" ELEPHANT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 8145, 16 April 1887, Page 6

A “ MAN EATING" ELEPHANT.

Most persons who have had occasion to visit the prettily wooded station of Nagpur, the seat of the administration of the Central Provinces of India, and who have been inside the little English museum there, must have observed, says a writer in Chambers’ Journal, a trophy in the shape of tbe skull and tusks of an elephant, occupying a prominent place among the other curiosities. These, and the awful reputation for blood-thirstiness which he left behind him, are all that remain to us of the once notorious “ man-eating ” elephant of Mundla. Hardly anybody who has over resided in India can have failed to hear of the enormities committed by this extraordinary animal, whose history, the writer states,- would read like a monstrous fable, were it not corroborated in every particular by the official records. THE ELEPHANT AT LARGE. Atiout the year 1851, when the estate of the Nawab of Ellichpur escheated to the Nizam's Government, this elephant escaped, and made 1 Its way into the jungles of Chindwara, 123 the Central Provinces. For several years it Joamed the Dhansna hills, and then wont away north of Bhimlat to tho Bhaisan ahat range, where it remained without doing much damage to man or property until the beginning of tiie year 1871, when it signalised itself by killing, without any sort of provocation, twentyone persons in the Mundla district, catching them with its trunk and pounding them to death. It then passed on once more to tho Balaghat district; and the history of its atrocities while there, the measures taken for its destruction, and the result of those measures, are detailed and perfectly clear. The following account is extracted from the official report, the substance of which is hero given, with only a few omissions and some slight alteration, in the language of the report. TERRIBLE DOINGS. On the evening of Oct. 30, 1871, a report reached the Deputy Commissioner at his headquarters at Ballaghat that tho elephant had killed and partially devoured* a Gond (aborigine) near Behir, in the north-eastern corner of the district. Owing to press of work, the Deputy Commissioner was unable to sake any action until Nov. 1, when he moved off by the most direct route towards Behir, with the object of meeting there with tho District Superintendent of Police, with whom it had been previously arranged to hunt the animal. On Nov. 3 ho got to a place near Behir, where he came across the Superintendent of the Mundla district, who had followed up tho elephant. Here they were informed that the creature had been seen on the night of Oct. 27 by a Gond, who was watching his fields with his father on a machan, or rude wooden platform, erected tor that purpose. The former had jumped off the platform, and, shouting to alarm his father, had bolted to the nearest village for safety. The latter, however, was not so fortunate, and his body, smashed almost to pieces, was discovered in a field on the following morning. Again, on the night of Oct. 29, a Gond and his wife were sleeping on a machan in a field to the north of the village of Jatta. The woman was awakened by hearing strange noises, and, catching sight of the elephant, she roused her husband, and ran to alarm her two children, who were sleeping in a neighbouring field. She then, with the children, ran off to the village. Her husband, who did not at first believe her, took his time in coming down, was caught by the elephant, and killed. His body was found in a fearfully mangled condition. The animal would then eeem to have passed southwards to Bhaudheri. On the way, he destroyed several huts, lifting the thatch and knocking down part of tho gable ends, and feeling inside with his trunk for the large grain jars which he expected to find there. The inhabitants, it is needless to say, fled on his approach. ON THE TRAIL. After listening to the several accounts, the Deputy Commissioner and the superintendent ot police determined to take action. A march after the animal was immediately ordered; and the farther they went, the thicker and faster came the reports of his depredations. On the morning of Nov. 5, the Deputy-Commissioner’s party had struck their tents, and accomplished a march of twenty-three miles to the Hatta Pergannah, eighteen miles of their journey being made through thick jungle and over *This Is an exaggeration; Lot it was from similar stories that tbe animal ace'fired the name "maneating ” elephant, <

isough stony hills. Here they were told that the elephant had been seen at the village of Goderi, where he had pursued and succeeded in catching a girl about six years old, whom he literally broke to pieces. She was found next morning a mass of pulp. searching fob a victim. On leaving Goderi. the elephant went on to the Dro River. Here a party of eight travellers and five boatmen were asleep on the Rands, when they were roused by cries of Bagh ! (Tiger) from a boy who was with them. The moon was just rising at the time; but as they happened to bo on the western slope of some high hills, the place where they were was almost in complete darkness. On the alarm being raised the elephant was observed standing about ten paces off, whereupon there was an immediate stampede. All the party succeeded in gaining the shelter of the bamboos and rocks on the side of the hill, except one of them, who first ran for about four hundred yards along the bed of the river, and then ensconced himself under the bank in the midst of a thick bush. The elephant, after failing to get at any of the party on the hill, followed the fugitive down the river. From the tracks, it appeared that the animal, after diligently searching for the man, had found him, and pulling him from hia hiding-place, had smashed him to pieces. FURTHER ATROCITIES. The nows next obtained of the elephant was that he had killed several persons hard by, among them a man named Pandu, whom he had surprised in company with some other men and had singled out and chased. The elephant then seems to have continued its wanderings, shaking people out of maehans and killing them whenever he could. It heaved a man named Motiand his servant out of their machan. They got on their legs, and ran towards the village with the elephant in pursuit. He came up with them before they had gone very far, and, seizing the servant, pounded him to a pulp, his master continuing to fly for his life with the poor fellow’s despairing shrieks ringing in his ears. After this, the elephant wont westward to the village of Kesa, where he surprised a man and his wife in their machan. They had barely time enough to get down and run for the village. The man, who was ahead, had just arrived at his house, when he heard shrieks from his wife, and, turning about, saw the elephant inside the incloeure with the woman in his trunk. He was lifting her up above his back and smashing her on the ground. On seeing the man, the animal dropped the woman and made for him ; but he escaped into the village. SURPRISING VILLAG'RS. Daring the whole of Nov. 4, the elephant was in the scrub jungle situated between the village of Sale and the left bank of the Dro River. Hundreds of people from the high bank on either side looked on from a distance at the animal as he alternately fed on the bamboos in tbe ravines and rolled himself in the water of the river. About three o’clock in the afternoon, some thirteen or fourteen people from Mate, armed with two guns and some swords, resolved to cross tbe river and go to the Dhydo B-izaar. They had just arrived at a place where the bank was high and precipitous and the water deep, and, seeing no signs of the elephant, were wondering where he had gone to, when one of their number, who had lagged behind, called to them to run, as the elephant was upon them. They faced around, and seeing the savage beast coming at them with his ears back, they jumped into the water close under the bank, and held on to the long grass overhanging the edge of the stream, to keep their heads above water. The elephant came up, and stretched his trunk over the water, as if in search of his victims, when one of the party struck out into the stream and began to swim across. A DETERMINED BRUTE. Immediately the elephant saw him, he moved quickly down stream to a plaoa where the bank was sloping, and, sliding into the water, started in pursuit. The man got across the stream into a dry watercourse, in which, a few paces from the water, there was a perpendicular ascent of about five feet. Up this ho scrambled, and had just managed to get a few feet up a tree, when the elephant came up, and, breasting the perpendicular bank, stretched out his trunk to lay hold of the man. Luckily, he was just out of reach, and lost no time in getting up higher. Being unable either to reach the man or to get up thft pteep bank, the elephant walked a short distatiCo down stream, and, getting up the river’s bank another place, came up to the south side 0 i treo - Stretching out his trunk, and faW n £ to get hold of the man, he tore down eo>i ie branches ; and, making another circuit, eatbl 3 U P to the tree from the east. Again the fleC? 6 animal failed to reach the man; and again he made a circuit in the jungle, and came up to the tree on the north side; where, again failing in lus purpose, he broke down some branches, and, after standing about for a short time, moved slowly away into the jungle. It was dark before the_man ventured to descend the tree. AN EXCITING PURSUIT. On the forenoon of Nov. 6, the DeputyCommissioner, with his party, which had now been augmented by the arrival of the Superintendent of Police of the Balaghat District, arrived at a place called Kesmara, where the elephant had been last seen. They were now hot on his track, and the chase became exciting. It was decided that their best plan was to surprise the animal at mid-day, when he would be either asleep or in the water. They halted outside the jungle, and, dismounting, sent back all the superfluous men, keeping only their spare gun carriers, the party of Bygas, two men armed with police muskets, two men leading five dogs, and a she elephant belonging to the zemindar (landholder) of Hatta. i Then they moved off in perfect silence, two of the Bygas following up tho trail in front, while the remainder stayed with the main body, and expecting every moment to hear the “ trumpet ” of the savage beast and the crash of hia unwieldy bulk through tho brushwood. After they had proceeded for about a mile in this fashion, the Bygas in front suddenly stopped short on the bank of a dry stream, and, pointing to the front with their spears, exclaimed in a whisper, “ There he is! ” there ho was sure enough, lying at a distance of about thirty-fiv-, yards in front of them, asleep in the long grass, over which they could see tho immense arch of his left ribs and a small portion of the spine. SHOT AT LAST. Not being able to get a good shot from where they stood, they moved a few paces to their left. Tho slight noise made in doing so aroused tho animal, and he raised himself, aa if to listen, showing above the grass the top of his head as far as the ear and just above the eye. They immediately raised their rifles and fired, and the creature disappeared for a second, bat was seen the next moment, and was sainted with another shot as he went up the opposite bank of the nullah. He then disappeared in tho j ungle, but was found two hundred yards farther on, standing under a mohvea tree. Two more shots started him off again, and there was a hot chase after him for about fifteen hundred yards, a brisk independent fire being opened upon him whenever he showed himself. At last, just as they went down into a nullah, the elephant turned half round, exposing the whole of his right side. Two shots were immediately fired into his right ear; and, with a shrill trumpet, the huge beast fell, burying his right tusk deep into the earth, while at the same moment the Bygas rushed forward with a yell of triumph and hurled their spears into the carcase ! He was found to be a full-grown male, measuring 26ft from the tip of his trunk to the end of his tail. His height was Oft sin, and length of tusks 2ft Sin. He was in splendid condition, being

covered with a thick layer of fat. His skin had been perforated by six ballets. THE TERROR OF THE NATIVES. So ended the career of thisextraordinarily bloodthirsty animal. He had killed, in all, forty-one persons—twenty in the Balaghat district—and wounded several. So great was the fear he inspired, that whole families became accustomed to pass the night on platforms erected on high trees rather than in their huts. Balaghat is still a very wild district, and man-eating tigers are not unfrequently to be met with there; but such intense and widespread terror has, perhaps, never been felt before or since the time of the notorious " maneating " elephant of Mundla.