Capture in India. 97 



and sometimes by driving them into a kind of pound, 

 they catch them." ^ 



In Nepaul and Burmah, and throughout the Chin- 

 Indian Peninsula, when in pursuit of single elephants, 

 either rogues detached from the herd, or individuals 

 who have been marked for the beauty of their ivory, 

 the natives avail themselves of the aid of females in 

 order to effect their approaches and secure an oppor- 

 tunity of casting a noose over the foot of the destined 

 captive. All accounts concur in expressing high admira- 

 tion of their courage and address ; but from what has 

 fallen under my own observation, added to the descrip- 

 tions I have heard from other eye-witnesses, I am inclined 

 to believe that in such exploits the Moormen of Ceylon 

 evince a daring and adroitness, surpassing all others. 



These professional elephant catchers, or, as they are 

 called, Panickeas, inhabit the Moorish villages in the 

 north and north-east of the island, and from time im- 

 memorial have been engaged in taking elephants, which 

 are afterwards trained by Arabs, chiefly for the use of 

 the rajahs and native princes in the south of India, 

 whose vakeels are periodically despatched to make pur- 

 chases in Ceylon. 



The ability evinced by these men in tracing elephants 

 through the woods has almost the certainty of instinct ; 

 and hence their services are eagerly sought by the Euro- 

 pean sportsmen who go down into their country in search 

 of game. So keen is their glance, that like hounds 

 running " breast high " they will follow the course of an 



' Knox's Historical Relation of Ceylon, a.d. i63i, part i. ch. vi. p. 21. 

 H 



