No. 26.— 1883.] THE PANIKKANS OF MUCHALAr. 



13 



THE PANIKKANS OF MUCHALAI. 



By G-. M. Fowlbe, Esq., CCS. 

 (Read 2Zrd October, 1883.; 



I have been unable to ascertain when or by whom this 

 mode of catching elephants was introduced. There is one 

 family, the members of which boast that they are the lineal 

 descendants of the first Panikkan, but I fancy the genealogy 

 is apocryphal. Whoever he was, the first sailor needed a 

 " heart of oak" scarcely less than he. 



The equipment of a Panikkan is simple in the extreme, 

 and would put to shame an English sportsman who sets out 

 in pursuit of the same game with half a dozen elaborate 

 rifles. It consists merely of a rope of raw hide, about 25 

 feet long, with a large knot at one end and a slip noose at 

 the other. Besides these ropes, a number of ordinary ropes 

 are carried by the attendants, which are used to tie the 

 elephant after he has been noosed. 



The hide rope will stand a great strain, but as might be 

 expected, frequently snaps, and sometimes an elephant will 

 break a dozen ropes before he is safely tied up. 



The title " Panikkan" is properly applied only to those 

 men who have succeeded in putting the first noose on an 

 elephant which has been ultimately secured. 



Each party of elephant catchers consists of four or five 

 Panikkans and about twenty assistants and coolies who are 

 learning the art, and who carry spare ropes. When the 

 party has succeeded in approaching a herd of elephants 

 without disturbing them, the Panikkans go on in advance, 

 and when sufficiently close alarm the elephants by shouting, 

 and as the herd takes to flight, each singles out an elephant, 

 and endeavours to slip the noose over its hind leg as it runs. 

 As soon as the Panikkan has succeeded in getting the noose 

 round its leg, he slips the bight of the rope round a 



