THE ELEPHANT 261 



of kindness or cruelty for quite long periods, and will 

 return good or ill in strict accordance with the treatment 

 meted out to itself. 



With the majority of wild animals there is usually little 

 hope of usefully domesticating them unless they are caught 

 when quite young ; with the Elephant it is different, for 

 most of them are not captured until they are more or less 

 mature. Probably the chief reason for this lies in the fact 

 that Elephants in captivity comparatively rarely breed ; in 

 any case the young are born singly, at rather long intervals, 

 and great expense is incurred in their rearing before they 

 reach an age to render their services useful. 



The method of hunting and taming the wild Elephant 

 in Asia is well worth description. In the forest where the 

 animals are known to exist a large space is marked out and 

 well fenced in with stakes. The enclosure, called a corral, 

 is narrow at one end and gradually widens until it takes 

 in a considerable extent of the forest. At the far end is 

 a long, narrow passage leading into a still smaller space 

 with a stout and impenetrable fence. Hundreds of men, 

 by means of noises and the kindling of fires at regular 

 intervals, drive the animals into the wide mouth of the 

 staked-in area, and then one by one they are urged along 

 until they reach the small enclosure. Here two specially 

 trained female elephants make friends with the captive, 

 soothing it until it allows itself to be conducted to a 

 tree, to which it is bound by the leg. Within the space 

 of a couple of weeks the wild Elephant is reduced to a state 

 of subjection; it is stabled, and quickly learns to recognise 

 the voice of its keeper. The tame Elephants employed in 

 the capture of their wild friends are called Koomkies, and 

 they exhibit no small amount of sagacity in seeking to 

 domesticate their species. A Koomky has been known to 

 go into the forest alone, make friends with a male, and bind 

 him to a tree without assistance ; and then in animal glee 

 fetch her owner to view the capture which she had 

 effected for him. 



The African Elephant is seldom hunted for domestic 

 purposes : its flesh and ivory are the main objects of the 

 hunter, and consequently the methods employed aim at 



