252 METHODS BY WHICH 



phants into a previously-prepared pound, and securing the entrance so 

 as to prevent their escape. 



In the former method the hunters are aided by certain trained 

 females, termed " koomkies," which enter into the spirit of the chase 

 with wonderful animation, and help their riders in every possible man- 

 ner. When the koomkies see a fine male Elephant, they advance care- 

 lessly toward him, plucking leaves and grass, as if they were perfectly 

 indifferent to his presence. He soon becomes attracted to them, when 

 they overwhelm him with endearing feminine blandishments, and occupy 

 his attention so fully that he does not observe the proceedings of the 

 " mahouts," or riders. These men, seeing the Elephant engaged with 

 the " koomkies," slip quietly to the ground and attach their rope nooses 

 to his legs, fastening the ends of the cords to some neighboring tree. 

 Should no suitable tree be at hand, the koomkies are sagacious enough 

 to comprehend the dilemma, and to urge their victim toward some 

 large tree which is sufficiently strong to withstand his struggles. As 

 soon as the preparations are complete the mahouts give the word of 

 command to the koomkies, who move away, leaving the captive 

 Elephant to his fate. 



Finding himself deserted and bound, he becomes mad with rage, and 

 struggles with all his force to get free. In these furious efforts the 

 Elephant displays a flexibility and an activity of body that are quite 

 surprising, and are by no means in accordance with the clumsy, stiff 

 aspect of its body and limbs. It rolls on the ground in despair, it rends 

 the air with furious cries of rage, it butts at the fatal tree with all its 

 force in hope of bringing it to the ground, and has been known to stand 

 with its hind-legs fairly off the ground in its furious endeavors to break 

 the rope. After a while, however, it finds its exertions to be totally 

 useless, and yields to its conquerors. 



The second mode of capturing Elephants is more complicated. The 

 inclosure into which the Elephants are driven is termed a "keddah," 

 and is ingeniously constructed of stout logs and posts, which are sup- 

 ported by strong buttresses, and are so arranged that a man can pass 

 through the interstices between the logs. When the keddah is set in 

 good order, a vast number of hunters form themselves into a huge cir- 

 cle, inclosing one or more herds of Elephants, and moving gradually 

 toward the inclosure of the keddah, and arranging themselves in such 

 a manner as to leave the entrance toward the keddah always open. 

 When they have thus brought the herd to the proper spot, a business 

 which will often consume several weeks, the Elephants are excited by 

 shouts, the waving of hands and spears, etc., to move toward the in- 

 closure, which is cunningly concealed by the trees among which it is 

 built. If the operation should take place at night, the surrounding 

 hunters are supplied with burning torches, while the keddah is care- 



