THE ixdia:n' elephant. 221 



had been reached, and a fine was imposed upon the shooting of 

 elephants. 



In former times, elephants were so numerous in Southern India 

 that the Madras Government paid a reward of £7 j^er head for their 

 destniction. Had this law remained in force up to this time, it is 

 quite sure there would now be very few of the animals remaining 

 in the Presidency, and their complete extinction would be but a 

 question of a few years. In 1873 an act was j^assed to prevent 

 their destruction, and they are now protected in all parts of India 

 and Ceylon. 



In Hindustan, elephants have been caught in the Coimbatore 

 District under the direction of the collector, Mr. Wedderburn ; in 

 Mysore by Mr. G. P. Sanderson under government authority and 

 support ; and in Chittagong, also, an annual catch has been made on 

 government account for many years past. Smaller operations have 

 also been conducted by private individuals (natives) in the same 

 region with official sanction. It is far cheaper, and more expedi- 

 tious, to catch elephants for senice than to breed and rear them, 

 on account of the fact that an elephant is from fifteen to twenty- 

 five years in coming to maturity. 



The plan pursued in capturing a wild herd is, like the shooting 

 of one's first elephant, very easy to understand, but very difiicult 

 to execute. In a tract of forest which is periodically visited by 

 large herds, a spot is select2d with reference to the natural advan- 

 ta"^es of the ground, such as streams of water, or high banks, and 

 some days or weeks before the elephants are expected, a lai'ge force 

 of natives is set to work to build an enclosure. A keddah, as it is 

 termed in India, is constructed by enclosing several acres of forest 

 with a stockade ten to twelve feet high, built of stout posts set 

 close together and strongly braced on the outside, the whole 

 being firmly lashed together with green bark or creepers. At the 

 pi'oper place, usually on an elephant path, a wide gateway is left, 

 and either a heavy gate is made and suspended above the opening, 

 ready to be instantly dropped, or else a number of stout sliding 

 bars are an-anged. From each side of the gate, a long guiding 

 wing is built, similar to the stockade itself, the two diverging and 

 extending some distance out into the open forest. 



When a wild herd wanders near enough to this huge trap, and 

 on the gate side, an army of native beaters, from three hundred to 

 two thousand men, with tom-toms, rusty firearms, and brazen 

 throats, surround the elephants on three sides, and by judicious 



