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454 
wounds; but being unable to extraft the ball, and fee¬ 
ing nobody near him, he becomes quite furious, and runs 
about amongft the bullies, until, by fatigue and lofs of 
blood, he has exhauded himfelf, and affords the hunters 
an opportunity of firing a fecond time at him, by which 
he is generally brought to the ground. The (kin is now 
taken off, and extended with pegs, to dry ; and luch parts 
of the flefh as are mod edeemed are cut up into thin 
dices, and. dried in the fun, to ferve for provifions on 
fome future occaftons. The teeth are (truck out with a 
light hatchet, which the hunters always carry along with 
wi'tli them ; not only for that purpofe, but alfo to enable 
them to cut down fuch trees as contain honey; for, though 
they carry with them only five or fix days provilions, 
they will remain in the woods for months, if they are 
fuccefsful ; and fupport themfelves upon the flelh of 
fuch elephants as they kill, and wild honey,” 
Mr. Browne, too, in his travels through part of the in¬ 
terior of Africa to the kingdom of Fur, informs us that 
“ the elephant is feen, in the places he frequents, in large 
herds of four or five hundred. The natives hunt him on 
horfeback, having ftngled out a draggler from the herd ; 
or aim at him with fpears from the trees; or make pits 
into which he falls. The African elephant is fmailer 
than the Afiatic, and probably a different fpecies. The 
flefh is an article of food in great efteem with them ; and 
the fat forms a valuable unguent.” 
The method of taking wild elephants in the Eaft-Indies, 
is thus related by John Corfe, efq. firft publiihed in the 
third volume of the Afiatic Refearches. “ In the month 
of November, when the weather has become cool, and 
the fwamps and marfhes, formed by the rains in the five 
preceding months, are lelfened, and fome of them dried 
up, a number of people are employed to go in qued of 
elephants. At this feafon the males come from the re¬ 
cedes of the fored-, into the outikirts, whence they make 
noifturnal excurfiotis into the plains in fearch of food, 
and where they often deftxoy the labours of the hufband-. 
man, by devouring and trampling down the rice, fugar- 
canes, &c. A herd of elephants, from what I can learn, 
lias never been feen to leave the woods: fome of the 
larged males often dray to a didance, but the young ones 
always remain in the fored under the protection of the 
pfilmai, or leader of the herd, and of the larger elephants. 
The goondahs, or large males, come out fingly, or in finall: 
parties, fometimes in the morning, but commonly in the 
evening, and they continue to feed all night upon the 
long grafs, that grows amidd the fwamps and marfnes, 
and of which they are extremely fond. As often, how¬ 
ever, as they have an opportunity, they commit depre¬ 
dations on the rice-fields, (ugar-canes, and plantain-trees, 
which oblige the farmers to keep regular watch, under 
a, ('mail cover, eroded on the tops of a few long bamboos, 
about fourteen feet from the ground : and this precaution 
is necelfary to protect them from the tigers, with which 
ibis province abounds. From this lofty dation the alarm 
i^ foon communicated from one watchman to another, 
and to the neighbouring villages, by means of a rattle 
with which each is provided. With their (bouts and 
cries, and noife of the rattles, the elephants are gene¬ 
rally feared, and retire. It fometimes, however, hap¬ 
pens, that the males advance even to the villages, over¬ 
turn the houfes,,and kill thofe who unfortunately come 
hi their way ; unlefs they have had time to light a num¬ 
ber of fires: this element feems to,be the mo ft dreaded 
by wild elephants, and a few lighted vvhifps of draw or 
dried grafs, feld,om fail to dop their progrefs. To fecure 
one of the males, a very different method is employed 
from that which is taken to fecure a herd : the former is 
taken by hopmkits, or female elephants trained for the pur¬ 
pofe ; whereas the latter is driven into a ffrong enclo¬ 
sure, called a keddah. 
“ As the hunters know the places where the elephants 
come to feed, they advance towards them in the evening 
Hith four koomkees, the number allotted to. each hunting 
party. When the nights are dark, the male elephants 
are difeovered by the noife they make in cleaning their 
food, by whifking and ftriking it againd their fore-legs ; 
but by moon-light they can be feen didiaC'tly at fome 
didance. As foon as they have determined on the goon- 
dah they mean to fecure, three of the koomkees are con¬ 
ducted flowly by their makotes (drivers), at a moderate 
didance from each other, near to the place where he is 
feeding; the koomkees advance very cautioudy, feeding 
as they go along, and appear like wild elephants, that 
had ftrayed from the jungle or fored. When the male 
perceives them approaching, if he takes the alarm and 
is vicioufly inclined, he beats the ground with his trunk, 
blowing marks of difpleafure, and that he will not allow 
them to approach nearer: if they perfid, he will attack 
and gore them with his tufks : for which reafon they take 
care to retreat in good time. But (liould he be amoroufly 
difpofed, which is generally the cafe, he allows the fe¬ 
males to approach, and fometimes he even advances to 
meet them. 
“ When from thefe appearances the mahotes judge 
that he will become their prize, they conduft two of the 
females, one on each fide dole to him, and make them 
advance backwards, and prefs gently with their poderiors 
againd his neck and (boulders: the third female then 
comes up and places herfelf direClly acrofs his tail; in this 
fituation, fo far from fufpebting any defign, he begins to 
toy with the females, and car.efs them with his trunk. 
While thus engaged, the fourth female is brought near, 
with ropes and proper allidants, who get under the belly 
of the third female, and put a flight cord (the chilkah ), 
round his hind legs; fhould he move, it is eafily broken, 
in which cafe, if he takes no notice of this flight confine¬ 
ment, nor appears fulpicions of what was going forward, 
the hunters then proceed to tie his legs with a drongcord 
(called bundah ), which is palled alternately, by means of 
a forked dick, and a kind of hook, from one leg to the 
other, forming the figure 8 ; and as thefe ropes are diort, 
for the convenience of being more readily put around his 
legs, fix or eight are generally employed, and they are 
made fad by another cord, (the dagbearee,) which is paded 
a few turns perpendicularly between his legs, where the 
folds of the bundahs interfect each other. A drong ca¬ 
ble, (the phand ,) with a running noofe, fixty cubits long, 
is next put round each hind leg immediately above the 
bundahs, and again above them, fix or eight additional 
bundahs, according to the fize of the elephant, are made 
fad, in the fame manner as the others were : the putting 
on thefe ropes generally takes up about twenty minutes, 
during which the utmod dlence is obferved, and the 
mahotes, who keep flat upon the necks of the females, 
are covered with dark-coloured cloths, which ferve to 
keep them warm, and at the fame time do not attra6t the 
notice of the elephant. While the people are thus em¬ 
ployed in tying the legs of the goondah, he caredes fome¬ 
times one, and fometimes another, of the feducers, kootnee , 
by.which his defires are excited, and his attention di¬ 
verted from the hunters-;, and in thefe amorous dalliances- 
he is indulged by the females. But if his padions (hould 
be fo roufed, before his legs are properly fecured, as to 
induce him to attempt leaping on one of the females, the 
mahote, to infure his own fnfety, and prevent him grati¬ 
fying his dedres any farther, makes the female run away, 
and at the fame time, -by. raidng his voice and making a 
noife, he deters the goondah from purfuing ; this how¬ 
ever happens very feldom ; for he is fo fecured by the 
preflure of a koomkee on each fide, and one behind, that 
lie can neither turn himfelf, nor fee any of the people, 
who always keep fnug under the belly of the third fe¬ 
male that dands acrofs his tail, and which ferves both 
to keep him deadv, and to prevent his kicking the people 
who are employed in fecuring him; but in general he is 
fo much taken up with his decoyers, as to attend very 
little to any thing elfe. In cafe of accidents, however, 
fhould the goondah break loofe, the people upon the firft 
2 alarm 
