274 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
a friend of his, Mr. Nathaniel Kindersley, was pre- 
sent, and of which he sent him the account. I give 
it pretty nearly in Mr. Kindersley’s own words. 
Here I am again at Periacolum ; and now that I 
have ample leisure I shall give you a minute account 
of an elephant hunt, at which I was present. It is 
one of the most magnificent spectacles that can be 
imagined. I arrived at the pits just as the day broke 
on the ninth of the present month, and having desired 
that none of my establishment should accompany me, 
orders were immediately issued for drawing the ele- 
phants up. I ran to the summit of a hill forming 
one side of the entrance into the enclosure prepared 
to receive the herd, and a finer scene I never wit- 
nessed. The sun had not yet risen ; and there lay a 
valley before us extending several miles, enclosed on 
either side by a wall of hills, like those of Courtal- 
lum, the whole covered with heavy forest jungle. 
I stood upon an elevation which commanded a com- 
plete view of the' scene. There was a line of fires more 
than a mile in extent, kept up by upwards of three 
thousand people, by which the herd of elephants was 
surrounded, being gradually urged towards the enclo- 
sure by the fiery circle narrowing upon them, from 
which they retreated in terror. What little wind 
there was blew from the north, and the light feathery 
smoke lay upon the tops of the trees like a thin mist, 
overspreading the whole southern part of the valley, 
but leaving the enclosure perfectly clear. 
The summits of the hills were covered as usual 
with those morning vapours which in this country 
produce that nameless singularity of effect when 
