ELEPHANTS. 541 



one by one by relays. When the wild tusker is sound asleep, the females close up 



around him, upon which two of the mahouts slip off, and tie his hind-legs securely 



together. Sometimes this is all that is then done, but in other cases he is made 



fast to a tree. When awakened, the male, if tied to a tree, makes every effort to 



escape, but in vain ; while, when his legs are merely hobbled, he makes off in the 



best way he can. In the latter case he is followed by the females until exhausted, 



when he is made fast to a neighbouring tree. The efforts made by elephants thus 



caught to escape from their trammels, frequently produce such injuries as to result 



in the death of a large percentage of the number. 



The pitfall mode is chiefly or entirely employed by natives, and 



is a barbarous one, owing to the frequency with which the bones of 



the animals are broken or dislocated in the fall. To obviate this a bar is usually 



fixed across the middle of the pit, which, although itself broken, somewhat mitigates 



the shock of the fall. The pits are about fifteen feet in depth, by ten and a half in 



length, and seven and a half in width ; this relatively small area being intended to 



hinder the animal from digging his way out with his tusks. It is remarkable that 



an animal which displays such caution in venturing over bridges and other artificial 



structures as does the Indian elephant, should so readily fall into these pits. 



The fourth method of capture emploved in India is by far the 

 Chasing. . . . . r . L J J 



most exciting, and is in fact a simple chase. Three or four fast tame 



elephants, each carrying a mahout on its neck, a nooser kneeling on a small pad on 



the back, and a driver near the tail, are fitted with a girth round the body, attached 



to which is a rope with a running noose. When the wild elephants are approached, 



they make off at their topmost speed, closely followed by the tame ones. Two of 



the tame elephants select a single wild animal, and urged to their utmost speed by 



the blows of a spiked mallet wielded by the drivers behind, perhaps eventually 



come alongside of it. When this takes place, the nooses are thrown, and generally 



encircle the victim by the neck. The tame elephants are then checked, but if this is 



done too suddenly the captive may be choked ; indeed, the whole party are liable 



to injury from being dragged down ravines or other precipitous places ; and the 



work is at all times very harassing to the tame animals employed. This method, 



which is only employed in Bengal and Nipal, has the further disadvantage that 



only the less fleet, and therefore inferior, animals can be captured by its means. 



In Ceylon wild elephants are noosed by a couple of hunters on 

 Noosing 1 . . 



foot, who with marvellous skill encircle the hind-legs of an animal 



running away from them, and make fast the end of the trailing rope to a tree. 



An immature female elephant is worth about £150 (we presume 



counting the rupee at its nominal value of two shillings), while good 



working females will fetch from £200 to £300. Tuskers are, however, far more 



valuable, ranging from £800 to £1500 or £1600, or even more if all their "points" 



be perfect. 



Uses of The domesticated elephant is largely employed in India for the 



Elephants, transport of heavy camp-equipage, for dragging timber to the rivers, 



and in lieu of horses for artillery : and is of especial value in traversing districts 



where roads are either wanting, or are so bad as to be impassable for other animals 



when laden. Elephants may be employed either as beasts of burden or of draught; 



