THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 1129 



As the finest tuskers are seldom caught in the keddas, another plan is adopted 

 for their capture. A party of four or five trained female elephants, with their 

 mahouts (who partially conceal themselves under blankets), proceed to the resorts of 

 a solitary wild tusker; and gradually approach him by grazing in an unconcerned 

 manner, unless the male saves them this trouble by coming up of his own accord. 

 Having established an acquaintance, the females remain constantly with the male 

 until he is thoroughly tired out and in need of sleep, which may not take place for 

 two or three days; during which time the mahouts have been relieved one by one 

 by relays. When the wild tusker is sound asleep, the females close up around him, 

 upon which two of the mahouts slip off, and tie his hind-legs securely together. 

 Sometimes this is all that is then done, but in other cases he is made fast to a tree. 

 When awakened, the male, if tied to a tree, makes every effort to escape, but in 

 vain; while, when his legs are merely hobbled, he makes off in the best way he can. 

 In the latter case he is followed by the females until exhausted, when he is made 

 fast to a neighboring tree. The efforts made by elephants thus caught to escape 

 from their trammels, frequently produce such injuries as to result in the death of a 

 large percentage of the number. 



The pitfall mode is chiefly or entirely employed by natives, and is a 

 barbarous one, owing to the frequency with which the bones of the 

 animals are broken or dislocated in the fall. To obviate this a bar is usually fixed 

 across the middle of the pit, which, although itself broken, somewhat mitigates the 

 shock of the fall. The pits are about fifteen feet in depth, by ten and one-half 

 in length, and seven and one-half in width; this relatively-small area being in- 

 tended to hinder the animal from digging his way out with his tusks. It is 

 remarkable that an animal which displays such caution, in venturing over bridges 

 and other artificial structures as does the Indian elephant, should so readily fall 

 into these pits. 



The fourth method of capture employed in India is by far the most 

 exciting, and is in fact a simple chase. Three or four fast tame ele- 

 phants, each carrying a mahout on its neck, a nooser kneeling on a small pad on the 

 back, and a driver near the tail, are fitted with a girth round the body, attached to 

 which is a rope with a running noose. When the wild elephants are approached, 

 they make off at their topmost speed, closely followed by the tame ones. Two of 

 the tame elephants select a single wild animal, and, urged to their utmost speed by 

 the blows of a spiked mallet wielded by the drivers behind, perhaps eventually come 

 alongside of it. When this takes place, the nooses are thrown, and generally en- 

 circle the victim by the neck. The tame elephants are then checked, but if this is 

 done too suddenly the captive may be choked; indeed, the whole party are liable 

 to injury from being dragged down ravines or other precipitous places; and the work 

 is at a\l times very harassing to the tame animals employed. This method, which is 

 only employed in Bengal and Nipal, has the further disadvantage that only the 

 less fleet, and therefore inferior, animals can be captured by its means. 



In Ceylon wild elephants are noosed by a couple of hunters on foot, 

 who with marvelous skill encircle the hind-legs of an animal running 

 away from them, and make fast the end of the trailing rope to a tree. 



