874 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[June 2, 1884. 



who are to blame can be detected. This investment of the 

 elepliants may have to be maintained for a week, some- 

 times for a month, if the elephants cannot be secured in 

 the first attempts. 



The oluphauts usually give some little trouble for the 

 first two niglits, but their conservative nature then seems 

 to lead them to believe that thure are set bounds to their 

 wanderings; and unless fodder or water becomes scarce, they 

 seldom try to force the guards. A small herd always gives 

 more trouble than a large one. The former may only be 

 a wandering party from some large body of ele^jhants not 

 far away; it then shows a strong desire to break thi'ough 

 to join its companions. A small herd, too, probably has 

 no calves with it, which is a great disadvantage, as it is 

 then restless and quick in its movements. And a herd of 

 a dozen elephants or so may be well in command of one 

 courageous leader; whereas, in a large gathering, timid 

 animals preponderate so greatly that a panic is easily 

 established, and elephants that might otherwise behave 

 boldly become infected with the general fear. 



One or two of the males of a herd frequently pass in 

 and out of the circle; and I have known several cases in 

 which a portion of a herd has been absent when their 

 companions were surrounded, and has been admitted by the 

 guards by withdrawing at the point where it wished to 

 pass in. Sometimes, but not often, men are killed at their 

 posts by the elephants. 



On the day following the investment of the herd, the 

 construction of the kheddah, or small enclosure into which 

 the elephants are to be driven, is commenced. It is situated 

 on one of their chief paths (within the circle) and is con- 

 structed with the trunks of young trees, about 6 inches 

 in diameter, and 12 ft. high, arranged in a circle of from 

 20 to 50 yards across. Inside, round the foot of the pah - 

 sades, a treneh ii ft. wide and 4 ft. deep is dug, the earth 

 fruPii tliis being throwi^ up into a bank on the inner side. 

 The trench and bank of loose earth usually deter elephants 

 from attacking the .^tockatle, or should they do so, prevent 

 their employing their full force against it. The palisades 

 are lashed together with caues, and are strongly supported 

 by cross beam.*' and forked supports behind, the whole 

 structure being designed to sujjport outward pressure only. 

 "Were elephants to pull the palisades inwards, they would 

 yieklfi at once, but they never use their trnnks for this 

 purpose. An ontrance of 4 j'ards in width is left for the 

 ingi-ess of the herd, and a gate, studded inside with sharp 

 spikes, is either sluiig from the trees overhead, or is made 

 in two loaves, and is ijushed to upon the entrance of the 

 herd by men stationed behind it. 



A stockade of 40 yards in diarauter accommodates 100 

 elephants easily. To guide the elephants into it, two lines 

 of strong ])alisades are run out from the gate along each 

 sidfi of the path by which the herd is to approach. 

 These guiding wings diverge to perhaps GO yards across 

 at their commencement, which may be 100 yartls or so 

 from the gate. AVhen the whole is completed, the new 

 woodwork is hidden with leaves and branches. The stock- 

 ade is usually completed in three or four days. The hunters 

 consider Friday the mo.st lucky day for driving, and they 

 make extraordinary efforts to get the stockade ready by 

 that day if possible. The work of the stockade is done 

 by one-half the hunters being taken from the largo circle 

 from morning till evening daily, as a weak cordon of guards 

 fiullices to keep the elephant-: in during the day. 



All being in readiiu^s for driving, a, number of menaie 

 taken from tlie originalcircle, .ind a snialler interior surround 

 is formed by commencing at the guiding wings of tlie khetldah. 

 and posting the men until the elephants arc again closed. 

 The origin;il circle is, of course, still maintained, in case of 

 the elephants breaking throui^di the inner one. If the lierd 

 b' in two or three detachments, as frecjuently happens, 

 these are quietly driven tog-tluT, and the whole are then 

 moved forward towards the kheddah. Should they .show 

 an inclination to break to the right or left, the men deter 

 them by striking their axes against the trees. When the 

 elephants gain the funnel-shaped approach to the stockade, 

 the men close in from behind, and from the sides, apd 

 urge them on with shots and shouts. If the herd suspects 

 dangiT, and breaks back througli the beaters, fatal accidents 

 not imcommonly occur. Sometimes a herd declines alto- 

 gether to go in the direction of the stockade, owing to 

 their havmg the >yijid from that quarter. In such a case 



a now stookade may have to be constructed, and if that 

 does not succed, others also. In this way elephants are 

 sometimes kept in a surround for a month. 



Supposing the herd to have been got within the wings 

 near the gate, aline of dry grass and bamboos arranged 

 beforehand is fired, and their retreat is cut off. They then 

 sometimes attack the guiding palisades, but men with spears 

 and muskets receive them here. I have seen two cases in 

 which the ele}ihants forced the palisades, and killed men 

 behind them. Tame elephants are used, if possible, to assist 

 at this stage of driving, chiefly as a protection to the men 

 on foot, who run behind them should any elephant turn and 

 charge. There is much less danger of this occurring in 

 dealing with large herds than with small ones, as should 

 a single elephaot charge out of a large iierd, it is rarely 

 supported, and it quickly rejoins its companions. But a 

 determined leader of a handful of elephants is liable to be 

 followed at once by the rest. When an elephant chases 

 the men, they betake themselves to the shelter of tree trunks, 

 bamboo clumps, or long grass, and it is astonishing how 

 they fi-equently escape uninjured. 1 have known many cases 

 of men standing against a tree, or hiding in tufts of long 

 grass, within a couple of yards of elephants that were 

 pausing in indecision, without being di.'5C0vere<l, though the 

 elephants were evidently aware of their close proximity, 

 as they kicked up the ground in anger, and then made 

 off. In such cases the slightest movement would have led 

 to the hunters being instantly trampled to death. Men 

 are frequently killed, of course, but they are almost always 

 young hands who are learning. I saw one such make a 

 narrow escape a few years ago ; he ran from an elephant 

 and climbed a tree; the elephant butted the trunk, and 

 the man fell down, but his pursuer was so astonished at 

 the sight that she fled at once. 



Sometimes drives are conducted by torchlight, and these 

 seldom fail, owing to the elephant's fear of fire. The 

 scenes on these occasions are exciting beyond description. 

 The elephants in rushing along tear down largo branches 

 of trees that are connected with the undergrowth by 

 climbing-plants, and even sometimes upset dry trees boilily 

 in their passage. The cries of the young, and the deep, 

 thunder-hke growls of the eklcrs of the herd, the continued 

 crashing of the jungle, and the shots and incessant cries 

 of the men, form, with the unnatural light of the fires 

 and of torches moving through the forest pnlhs, a scene 

 that cannot fade from the memory of anyone who has 

 witnessed it. 



When a herd has be^n driven into the stockade, the gate 

 is closed and barricaded, and men with firebrands and spears 

 rejjel any attacks upon it or the palisades. Eut the trench 

 is usuaUy sutlicient to deter th(^ elephants from crossing 

 it. On the same or fo!loi\ing day, ton or twelve tame 

 elephants are admitted with a mahout and rope-tier upon 

 each, and it is a very remarkable fact that the wild ones 

 very rarely attempt to dislodge the riders, as they easily 

 might. They miturally fail to comprehend anything so 

 foreign to their experience as a man upon an elephant's 

 back. I never knew a case, except one that happened 

 to myself, of any rider being attacked by a wild elephant. 

 The mahouts separate the wild elephants one by one from 

 their companions, when their hind legs are tied by men 

 who .slip to the gi'ouud for the purpose. A rope is then 

 secured round each captive's neck, and to its hind legs, 

 and it is led out and picketed in the forest near. 



If two well matched rival tuskers happen to be impound- 

 ed in one stockade, they sometinu^s fight to the death, 

 seemingly regardless of their novel position. If not well 

 matched, the more powerful one bullies the weaker one 

 incessantly. On one occasion, when a herd of forty-eight 

 elphants had been impounded, a scene of this kind occiurred, 

 one elephant following and fighting with another almost 

 continuously for two days and nights. The smaller eleph- 

 ant retaliated on others weaker than himself, and be- 

 tween them the pair killed four young elephants and a 

 lai-ge wKckmt. They caused such commotion that the tamo 

 elephants could not be admitUtl. At last the larger tusker 

 forced the smaller one across the trench, and against the 

 palisades. The latter commenced to break his way out; 

 and though nuiskets were fired into his face, and spears 

 and digging tools made red-hot for the occasion, were ap» 

 plied to his trunk and head, the inducement behind wa.s 

 so strong that the covmter efforts of the men were mi- 



