H4 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



you hold on with the tenacity of a bulldog, you 

 will be soon thrown off, and if you survived that, 

 you will see little of the chase and its results. As 

 soon as the wild elephant is done up and stops, the koon- 

 kie ranges alongside, and the mahout, who is invariably 

 standing up, holding on to a small rope fastened to the 

 girth for that purpose, throws the noose over its head. 

 The wild one, feeling the rope dangling about its face, 

 curls up its trunk, apparently in the hope of getting 

 rid of it, but in so doing it really assists in its own 

 capture, as the knot then slips under the neck and is 

 drawn tight. The koonkie now plants herself as 

 firmly as possible, leaning her whole weight to the side 

 opposite the secured brute, with one foot advanced to 

 meet the struggles of the captured beast, who, having 

 recovered a little breath and finding itself .entangled, 

 rushes off with great violence, dragging the koonkie 

 after it ; but the noose tightens, the animal gets half 

 suffocated and has to pull up ; another koonkie then 

 rushes along the other side, a second noose is thrown, 

 the animal is safe. The assistants then jump off and 

 tether the feet of their prize, which they do in a few 

 minutes, being from long practice most expert. The 

 mahouts, notably the one who had thrown the first 

 noose, have now the dangerous task of loosening the 

 slip-knots and of fastening thick ropes round the necks 

 of their victims, but the koonkies and men are so 

 well trained and so expert that but few accidents 

 occur. Two or three other tame elephants now close 

 up and lavish attentions on the half-strangled captive, 

 while the mahout is attaching a small rope, which he 

 carries for that purpose, to one end of the noose so as to 

 loosen it, which is often a matter of difficulty, for the 



