56 THE OX TRIBE. 



hope of cure, he kills the animal and eats the flesh, which 

 constitutes his first article of luxury. 



The Kookies have a very simple method of catching the 

 wild Gyalls, which is as follows : On discovering a herd 

 of wild Gyalls in the jungles, they prepare a number of 

 balls, of the size of a man's head, composed of a par- 

 ticular kind of earth, salt, and cotton. They then drive 

 their tame Gyalls towards the wild ones, when the two 

 herds soon meet, and assimilate into one; the males of 

 the one attaching themselves to the females of the other, 

 and vice versa. The Kookies now scatter their balls over 

 such parts of the jungle as they think the herd most 

 likely to pass, and watch its motions. The Gyalls, on 

 meeting these balls as they pass along, are attracted by 

 their appearance and smell, and begin to lick them with 

 their tongues ; and relishing the taste of the salt, and 

 the particular earth composing them, they never quit the 

 place until all the balls are consumed. The Kookies 

 having observed the Gyalls to have once tasted their 

 balls, prepare a sufficient supply of them to answer the 

 intended purpose ; and as the Gyalls lick them up, they 

 throw down more; and it is to prevent their being so 

 readily destroyed that the cotton is mixed with the earth 

 and the salt. This process generally goes on for three 

 changes of the moon, or for a month and a half, during 

 which time the tame and the wild Gyalls are always 

 together, licking the decoy balls ; and the Kookie, after 

 the first day or two of their being so, makes his appear- 

 ance, at such a distance as not to alarm the wild ones. 

 By degrees he approaches nearer and nearer, until at 

 length the sight of him has become so familiar that he 

 can advance to stroke his tame Gyalls on the back and 



