July ir, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
53 
Big-Game Hunting in India. 
Hunting big game is one of the most excit¬ 
ing and interesting of sports. Assam is but 
little known outside of India, and yet in its dense 
jungles roam the elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, 
tiger, bear, etc. 
Even in the present day there are huge tracts 
of virgin forest teeming with game of all de¬ 
scriptions. Perhaps for the true lover of sport 
the most interesting is the catching of wild ele¬ 
phants. These roam the hills of Assam in large 
numbers; frequently as many as a hundred have 
been captured in a single drive. 
Of course there are several ways of catch¬ 
ing elephants. In Assam it is generally done 
by driving them into a stockade, or else by what 
is called “mela shikar.” In the case of the latter 
only one elephant can be caught at a time and 
not over about six feet six inches in height. The 
method is as follows: Two fast female tame 
elephants are usually chosen. On the back of 
each elephant is a driver and one other to help 
with the ropes. The elephants are taken into 
the forest where wild elephants are known 10 
be. Search is then made for fresh tracks of 
a herd. When these are found the herd is fol¬ 
lowed up till the tame elephants get in among 
the wild ones. The one to be hunted is then 
selected, and the tame ones gradually edge up 
close to it, stopping when it does, and feeding 
alongside it. A young female is generally 
chosen. As soon as each tame elephant has 
closed in on each side of the wild one a rope 
with a noose is thrown over the neck of the 
latter by the driver of each tame elephant. As 
soon as he feels the rope the wild one bolts, and 
the tame elephants have to chase till he is 
finally run down, which is generally done in 
about one hour. 
The elephant drivers have to be very careful, 
as they are liable to be knocked off by branches 
of trees or overhanging creepers. This kind of 
hunting calls for great endurance, and is only 
done by natives. 
The best way to hunt elephants is by driving. 
Usually about the end of October the elephants 
come down from the hills to the salt licks. 
These are dotted about at the foot of the hills. 
;■ Every year in Assam the right to catch ele¬ 
phants is put up to auction by the government 
officials and knocked down to the highest bidder. 
Whoever has purchased what is called the 
“mehal” has the sole right to catch elephants 
and proceed to the hunting districts, and near 
one of the salt licks, much frequented by ele¬ 
phants, proceeds to erect a stockade. 
A large number of coolies are employed. 
These cut down the trees in the forest into 
posts and drive them firmly into the ground. 
They are bound together and long posts are 
braced against them for support. Inside the 
stockade a big ditch, generally about four feet 
deep and five feet wide, is made right around 
t the stockade. This is done to prevent the ele¬ 
phants from using their great strength against 
the stockade. Along both sides, leading to the 
inclosure, trees are felled and a guiding fence 
made leading right to the salt lick and left open 
at the side the elephants usually enter the salt 
lick. A huge gate is made and this is closed 
by a rope. Big pieces of timber are used for 
barricading it from the outside. The inside of 
the stockade is left as near like nature as pos¬ 
sible, and around the inclosure men are placed 
on platforms among the trees, watching night 
and day, as there is no telling when the ele¬ 
phants will visit the salt licks. Along the tops 
of the trees leading to the salt licks clackers 
are fixed to a string which runs along past the 
salt licks, so that when the string is pulled they 
make a great noise. At the end of the fence 
men are hidden with guns. As soon as the ele¬ 
phants enter the salt licks—men have been 
watching every move from the top of trees— 
and it is thought that all the herd are through 
the salt licks, the men at the end fire off their 
guns and the clackers are pulled, making a tre¬ 
mendous noise. The elephants at once stam¬ 
pede and naturally make for where there is no 
noise, for near the stockade everything is quiet. 
Men follow behind the elephants till they are 
driven right into the stockade. The gate is then 
closed and barred. It is a most exciting time 
when the elephants first enter the stockade, for 
as soon as they discover they are closed in they 
make frantic efforts to get out, charging at 
every side of the stockade. The men gathered 
around wave lighted torches in the elephants' 
faces, and when they get too close prod them 
with spears. They also put the ends of split 
bamboos into the fire, which makes them ex¬ 
plode with a report like a gun. Young elephants 
not accompanied by their mothers frequently get 
killed, as the elephants rush about in the stock¬ 
ade. 
If the elephants do not break out of the 
.stockade the first night, they rarely break out 
at all. As a rule they are allowed to remain in 
the stockade for two or three days in order 
to weaken them. When it has been arranged 
what wild ones are to be taken out, the “keon- 
kies” (tame elephants trained to do the work) 
are then lined up outside the stockade, and each, 
with its driver dressed in some dark colored 
costume and thick ropes which they form into 
nooses, are then prepared to enter the stockade. 
Before entering the stockade the natives chant 
to their gods three times. As the last chant is 
finished the gate, which had been gradually un¬ 
fastened, is thrown wide open and the keonkies 
enter to do battle with the wild ones. As soon 
as they enter the stockade they are formed up 
in front and on each side of the gate to prevent 
the wild ones from making a rush and getting out. 
It is a most interesting and picturesque sight 
seeing the keonkies first enter the stockade. 
They now advance toward the wild elephants 
and endeavor to separate the one to be caught 
from the rest. As soon as this is done two 
keonkies range up, one on each side. The wild 
one bolts around the stockade pursued by the 
keonkies until, at last, one of the drivers is able 
to slip a noose over the head of the wild ele¬ 
phant. The driver on the other elephant watches 
his opportunity and throws over another. The 
ropes are drawn fairly tight, care being taken 
to tie the slip-knot with a small rope to prevent 
its slipping and strangling the elephant. The 
big ropes are then tied to the keonkies, one on 
each side of the wild elephant, who continues 
to make frantic but useless efforts to escape. 
All the time he is being gradually pushed and 
hauled until he is gotten to a tree in the stock¬ 
ade and securely tied. The bark of the tree 
has been previously stripped off, so as to allow 
free play to the rope and to prevent the ele¬ 
phant using great pressure against it. 
In the majority of cases the wild ones are 
taken straight out of the stockade as soon as 
roped to the keonkies, but in the case of big 
tuskers they are usually tied up to trees in the 
stockade and left for two or three days with¬ 
out food to weaken them. The wild elephants, 
after being taken out of the stockade, are, as 
soon as possible removed to the training ground 
where would-be purchasers can inspect them. 
Sometimes we have a good deal of excitement 
in the stockade when a newly roped wild ele¬ 
phant drags the tame ones clear off their feet, 
and accidents frequently occur. 
The last time I helped in elephant catching, a 
big female was being taken out of the stockade, 
when she bolted and knocked down one of the 
tame elephants, dragging her about fifty yards 
through the forest. A newly caught elephant 
about seven feet six inches in height will gen¬ 
erally cost about $400. Of course the price 
goes up considerably after the animal has been 
trained. 
It was in connection with elephant hunting 
two years ago that I was fortunate enough to 
shoot the third largest elephant ever killed in 
India. It measured ten feet four inches in 
height from the shoulder, and the circumference 
of foot was sixty-two inches; it was a “goonda” 
—a solitary male. It had been giving consider¬ 
able trouble fighting our keonkies, and I ap¬ 
plied to the Government for permission to shoot 
the brute. One night the elephant amused it¬ 
self by breaking down the servants’ tent and 
nearly killed two men. 
I had a small camp, and several friends were 
staying with me to see the wild elephants taken 
out of the stockade. We were all admiring 
them, when one of my elephant hunters rushed 
up and said that the goonda was going for the 
keonkies. This was most serious, as some of 
the wild elephants were at that very moment 
roped to tame ones and being tied up to trees. 
If the goonda got among them some elephants 
would probably be killed and certainly some of 
the drivers. There was only one thing to do. 
The goonda must be stopped at all costs. Seiz¬ 
ing my rifle, a .450 bore high velocity, I ran 
into the forest to cut him off. I had not gone 
more than twenty yards in the forest before 
I saw the huge brute, but what was more to the 
point, he also saw me. There was just one 
moment of hesitation, when he seemed un¬ 
decided whether to go for the keonkies or to 
come for me. He decided on the latter course, 
and with a shrill trumpet charged straight down 
on me, the very incarnation of rage. It was 
a glorious sight, one of those moments which 
make life worth living. I let him get within 
ten yards, then shot him clear through the brain. 
He dropped stone dead to the one shot, shak¬ 
ing the earth as he fell, and one more trophy 
was added to my collection. 
Edwin Pinches. 
Turkeys for California. 
W. E. Van Slyke, special commissioner of the 
State Game Commission, arrived at San Ber¬ 
nardino on June 12 with thirty-five wild turkeys 
caught in Mexico which will be liberated in 
southern California. A much larger number of 
birds was expected, but the climatic conditions 
in Mexico made it impossible to take more of 
them. 
