I04 The Wild Elephant. 



The custom in Bengal is to construct a strong en- 

 closure (called a kcddah), in the heart of the forest, formed 

 of the trunks of trees firmly secured by transverse beams 

 and buttresses, and leaving a gate for the entrance of 

 the elephants. A second enclosure, opening from the 

 first, contains water (if possible a rivulet) ; this, again, 

 communicates with a third, which terminates in a funnel- 

 shaped passage, too narrow to admit of an elephant turn- 

 ing, and within this the captives being driven in line, are 

 secured with ropes introduced from the outside, and led 

 away in custody of tamed ones trained for the purpose. 



The keddah being prepared, the first operation is to 

 drive the elephants towards it, for which purpose vast 

 bodies of men fetch a compass in the forest around the 

 haunts of the herds, contracting it by degrees till they 

 complete the enclosure of a certain area, round which 

 they kindle fires, and cut footpaths through the jungle, to 

 enable the watchers to communicate and combine. All 

 this is performed in cautious silence and by slow ap- 

 proaches, to avoid alarming the herd. A fresh circle 

 nearer to the kcddah is then formed in the same way, and 

 into this the elephants are admitted from the first one, 

 the hunters following from behind, and lighting new fires 

 around the newly inclosed space. Day after day the pro- 

 cess is repeated ; till the drove having been brought suf- 

 ficiently close to make the final rush, the whole party 

 close in from all sides, and with drums, guns, shouts, and 

 flambeaux, force the terrified animals to enter the fatal 

 enclosure, when the passage is barred behind them, and 

 retreat rendered impossible. 



