136 DR. A. CAMPBELL ON THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. [Feb. 25, 
now being taken to protect Sea-fowl during the breeding-season, 
and stated that it was proposed to bring in an Act of Parliament on 
the subject during the present session. 
The following papers were read :— 
1. Notes on the mode of Capture of Elephants in Assam. 
By Dr. A. Campsett, late Superintendent of Darjeeling. 
By far the greater number of the Elephants for the supply of the 
Bengal markets are now caught in Assam; the Dooars of Bootan 
are so iniquitously misgoverned that the Elephant-catchers nearly 
shun them altogether. 
The Nipal Tarai furnishes Elephants for the marts of the central 
and western provinces; Mymunsingh and Sylhet for lower Bengal, 
&e. &e. 
The people who are principally engaged in catching Elephants for 
upper Bengal live in the northern parts of the Purneah and Rung- 
poor districts. Titalya is the most central position for the col- 
lection of Elephants by these people, and it is close to all the routes 
from the Elephant-catching districts *. 
The Elephant-merchants who conduct the trade between the 
eastern districts and other parts of India come from the central and 
western provinces; some even from the Punjab, Cashmere, and 
Cabool. 
The men who keep koonkis and supply the funds for catching 
Elephants are known as ‘“ Keda Walas.’”’ They often take their own 
Elephants for sale to the Hajipoor Fair, or further west; but 
usually look to the merchants, zemindars, baboos, &c. of their own 
districts as purchasers. At the Nek Mured Fair, in the Dinajpoor 
district, annually held in April, there is a good deal of business done 
in Elephants. 
An Elephant-catcher (or keda wala)’s establishment consists— 
Ist, of “ Koonkis,” 7. e. tame Elephants trained to hunting and 
catching wild ones; 2nd, ‘ Phanaits,’”’ or noosemen ; 3rd, Lohattias, 
or Elephant-drivers, who sit ‘on the croup and urge on the koonkis 
with an iron-spiked mallet; 4th, mates, or under drivers; and 
oth, an abundant supply of ropes and cables for catching and tying 
up their gigantic quarry. 
The old system of decoying or driving wild Elephants on pits dug 
for them is altogether exploded ; and the lassoo, or ‘‘ phan,’’ is the 
only mode now employed to catch them. 
The process is described as sufficiently simple, although it is 
attended with some danger. It is very extraordinary to hear a thin 
miserable-looking fellow (as many of the “ phanaits” are) describing 
in the quietest way possible how he has caught very large and fierce 
Elephants. 
The usual mode seems to be to form the “ keda,’’ or encampment, 
* See Hooker’s Himalayan Journals, vol. i. p. 181. 
