1 1 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



other, at times thrown backwards and then forwards ; 

 in fact, oftener off the elephant's back than on it. This 

 is not the experience of the native shikaries trained to 

 the sport, I believe they could stick to the point of 

 a needle if it were tossed to and fro on the " w r aters 

 wild," or carried here and there in a whirlwind. It 

 must take years to learn to sit barebacked on an 

 elephant going at full speed across country. One 

 moment almost pitching on its forehead, over some 

 hidden trunk of a fallen tree, and the next the hind- 

 quarters perhaps, falling into and sinking into some 

 pitfall ! I will first describe the modus operandi. The 

 best caste female elephants are trained exclusively for 

 this work almost as soon as caught, are carefully fed 

 on grain to give them wind, and only the fastest are 

 retained as koonkies ; the others assist. Females are 

 used exclusively for running down, but a good tusker 

 or two are employed to act as " chuckers-out," if 

 their services are required. The koonkies, when 

 thoroughly trained, are thus equipped for a hunt : A 

 stout rope is passed twice round their body, like a girth, 

 then under the neck and tail like a breastplate and 

 crupper, and securely fastened close to the withers for 

 the sling to be tied to. The mahout who guides the 

 elephant and throws the noose must be a plucky fellow, 

 specially trained to the work, and of course he must 

 be at home on the beast's bare back. He has a man 

 to assist, who has also been trained, and on whom he 

 can depend, and whose business it is to keep the 

 koonkie at full speed by striking it on a " raw," made 

 on purpose near the root of the tail, and he has also 

 to assist directly the lasso has been thrown and the 

 wild elephant noosed. On falling in with a herd, the 



