IVORY 



CAPTURE OF ELEPHANTS 



Distribution. The elephant frequents the forest-clad portions of 

 :in.l Ceylon from about Dehra Dun in the north along the foot of 

 the Himalaya to Assam, Chittagong, Burma, Siam and Cochin-China, 

 uls.) in tho forests of the Deccan, the Western Ghats, Mysore and South 

 India. As a rule the elephant does not ascend much above 5,000 feet, but i u 

 M.iMjmr and the Naga hills (Japvo) it has been met with at close on 8,000 

 feet. The chief centres of capture are in Assam (Garo hills more especially), 

 in Mysore and Ceylon. It is generally affirmed that while all the Indian 

 elephants constitute but one species apart from that of Africa there xuoe*. 

 are several very distinct races such as those of Nepal, Assam, Burma and 

 Mysore. The Nepal animal is small and especially adapted for life in a 

 hilly country ; the Shan elephant is tall, massive and handsome, but like 

 the Ceylon race is often tuskless. Those of Burma and Chittagong are 

 small and well suited for hilly countries, while the Assam animal is large 

 and massive, hence better adapted for hunting purposes. The Natives 

 classify the recognised races into kumeriak, the royal or princely, the 

 thoroughbred ; mirga, a tightly built and long-legged, arched-backed 

 animal, suggestive of the deer mirga ; and dwasdla, the intermediate of 

 the two former and the ordinary domestic or working elephant, the mirga 

 being used in quick marching. 



In India the animal is caught purely and simply for domestic purposes 

 and is never (as in Africa) ruthlessly destroyed on account of its ivory. 

 It is now captured exclusively by the kheddak system, and never by the 

 cruel methods in pits, etc., formerly pursued. But there seem indica- 

 tions that, far from being exterminated, the Indian elephant is increasing 

 in a higher ratio than the captures, and that the time may come when 

 it may be necessary to keep the multiplication under control, so as to 

 protect the cultivation of the tracts adjacent to the forests. 



The chief Indian mart where elephants are offered for sale appears to Price, 

 be Sonepoor, near Patna, the mela there held being some time in October 

 or November. An elephant costs about 40 to capture, and may be sold 

 for 150. A full-grown elephant will weigh from 3 to 3 tons, and stand 

 from 7 to 9 feet at the shoulders. It is an adult at twenty-five years 

 (but a calf may be obtained at thirteen to sixteen years), and its full age is 

 120 years. The only pace of the elephant is the walk, capable of being pce. 

 increased to a fast shuffle of about fifteen miles an hour, but for short 

 distances only ; it can neither trot, canter nor gallop. It cannot jump, 

 can never have all four feet off the ground at one time, and hence a trench 

 7 feet wide is to it impassable, though the step of a full-grown animal is 

 6 feet. The elephant will eat 600 to 700 Ib. of green fodder, but is usually Food, 

 under-fed, getting 250 to 400 Ib., and is fed mainly on leaves and 

 boughs of trees. Most of its ailments proceed from unsuitable or 

 insufficient food. 



IVORY (ELEPHANT'S TOOTH). Mention has been made of the ivory, 

 fact that the Ceylon elephant has frequently no tusks. In India a tusk- 

 less male is called a mukna. The tusks of the Asiatic animal are con- 

 siderably less valuable than the African. As a rule, the nearer the equator, Equator, 

 the larger, finer and more expensive the ivory ; but there are in addition 

 many local manifestations. African ivory is closer in grain and not so 

 liable to turn yellow nor to warp and split as the Indian ; moreover, the Indi * n - 

 ivory of the east coast of Africa is superior to that of the west. By 

 " dead ivory " is meant ivory that has been found on the ground or 



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