THE I'LKl'lIANT OF INJHA. 105 



tinge 1 overtlie groups collected around them, wliili; (lie smoke rose in eddies through I lie ri.-li foliii^'e of the 

 I reeft The crowds of spectators maintained profound silence, and not a sound was perccptil.le lieyond the 

 hum of an insect. On a sudden, the stillness was broken by the roll of a drum, followed by a discharge oi 

 musketry. This was the signal for the renewed assault, and the hunters entered the circle with shouts 

 and clamour; dry leaves and sticks were flung upon the watch-fires till they blazed aloft, and Conned 

 a line of (lame on every side, except in the direction of the corral, which was studiously kept dark ; 

 and thither the terrified elephants betook themselves, followed by the yells and racket of their pursuers. 



"They approached at a rapid pace, trampling down the brushwood, and crushing the drv bnmehe-i ; 

 the leader emerged in front of the corral, paused for an instant, stared wildly around, and then rushed 

 headlong through the open gate, followed by the rest of the herd. 



" As if by magic, the entire circuit of the corral which to this moment had been kept in profound 

 darkness now blazed with a thousand lights, every hunter, on the instant that the elephants entered, 

 rushing forward to the stockade with a torch kindled at the nearest watch-fire. 



" The elephants first dashed to the very extremity of the inclosure, and, being brought up by the 

 powerful fence, started back to regain the gate, but found it closed. Their terror was sublime : they 

 hurried round the corral at a rapid pace, but saw it now girt by fire on every side ; they attempted to 

 force the stockade, but were driven back by the guards with spears and flambeaux ; and on whichever 

 side they approached, they were repulsed with shouts and discharges of musketry. Collecting into one 

 group, they would pause for a moment in apparent bewilderment, then burst off in another direction, 

 as if it had suddenly occurred to them to try some point which they had before overlooked ; but again 

 repulsed, they slowly returned to their forlorn resting-place in the centre of the corral. 



" The interest of this strange scene was not confined to the spectators ; it extended to the tame 

 elephants which were stationed outside. At the first approach of the flying herd, they evinced the 

 utmost interest in the scene. Two in particular, which were picketed near the front, were intensely 

 excited, and continued tossing their heads, pawing the ground, and starting as the noise drew Dear, 

 At length, when the grand rush into the corral took place, one of them fairly burst from her fasten- 

 ings, and started off towards the herd, levelling a tree of considerable size, which obstructed her 

 passage." 



From the persecution endured from man, either for the pleasures of the chase, or that, when tamed, 

 the animal might increase the splendour of state, or serve as a beast of burden, and render assist- 

 ance in battle, the elephant has nearly disappeared from the interior of India, and is found wild only 

 on the less elevated portion of the Himalaya chain namely, in the forests of Dshemna, Nepaul, some 

 parts of Ghauts Tawai, the kingdom of Ava, and Ceylon. On the upper Indus, near Attock, where 

 Alexander the Great had his first elephant hunt, in the Punjab, and on the banks of the Jumna, not 

 far from Kalpy, where the native princes were annually accustomed to enjoy the chase, and capture 

 many of these animals, there is not now a trace of this noble beast to be found. 



The skill of the professional elephant-catchers in Ceylon, the " pauikeas," as they are called, who 

 inhabit the Moorish villages, in the north and north-east of the island, is described as having almost 

 the certainty of instinct. 



" Hence," says Sir Emerson, " their services are eagerly sought by the European sportsmen who go 

 down into their country in search of game. So keen is their glance, that almost at the top of their 

 speed, like hounds running ' breast high,' they will follow the course of an elephant over glades covered 

 with stunted grass, where the eye of a stranger would fail to discover a trace of its passage, and on 

 through forests strewn with dry leaves, where it seems impossible to perceive a footstep. Here they 

 are guided by a bent or broken twig, or by a leaf dropped from the animal's mouth, on which they can 

 detect the pressure of a tooth. If at fault, they fetch a circuit, like a setter, till, lighting on some 

 fresh marks, they go ahead again with renewed vigour. So delicate is the sense of smell in the ele- 

 phant, and so indispensable is it to go against the wind in approaching him, that the pauikeas on these 

 occasions, when the wind is so still that its direction cannot be otherwise discerned, will suspend the 

 film of a gossamer to determine it, and shape their course accordingly. 



" They are enabled, by the inspection of the footmarks, when impressed in soft clay, to describe 

 the size as well as the number of a herd before it is seen; the heiy/tl of an ijrjJtKitt, </t '/ >/< 

 an nearly as possible twice the circumference of his fwe foot." 



