weather has become cool, and the swamps and marshes formed by the rains in the five preceding months are lessened, and some of them dried up, a number of people are employed to go in quest of elephants.

"At this season the males come from the recesses of the forest into the borders and outskirts thereof, whence they make nocturnal excursions into the plains in search of food, and where they often destroy the labours of the husbandman, by devouring and trampling down the rice, sugar-canes, &c. that they meet with. A herd or drove of elephants, as far as I can learn, has never been seen to leave the woods; some of the largest males often stray to a considerable distance, but the young ones always remain in the forest under the protection of the Palmai (or leader of the herd), and of the larger elephants. The Goondahs (or large males), come out singly or in small parties, sometimes in the morning, but commonly in the evening, and they continue to feed all night upon the long grass that grows amidst the swamps and marshes, and of which they are extremely fond. As often, however, as they have an opportunity, they commit depredations on the ricefields, sugar-canes, and plantain-trees that are near, which oblige the farmers to keep regular watch, under a small cover, erected on the tops of a few long bamboos about fourteen feet from the ground; and this precaution is necessary to protect them from the tigers, with which this province abounds. From this lofty station the alarm is soon communicated from one watchman to another, and to the neghbouring villages, by means of a rattle, with which every one is provided. With their shouts and cries and noise of the rattles, the elephants are generally scared, and retire. It sometimes, however, happens that the males advance even to the villages, overturn the houses, and kill those who unfortunately come in their way, unless they have had time to light a number of fires ;this element seems to be the most dreaded by wild elephants, and a few lighted wisps of straw or dried grass seldom fail to stop their progress.

"To secure one of the males, a very different method is employed from that which is taken to secure a herd: the former is taken by Koomkees, (or female elephants trained for the purpose), whereas the latter is driven into a strong inclosure called a Keddah. As the hunters know the places where the elephants come out to feed, they advance towards them in the evening with four koomkees, which is the number of which each hunting party consists; when the nights are dark, --and these are the most favourable nights for their purpose, -the male elephants are discovered by the noise they make in

cleaning their food by whisking and striking it against their fore legs, and by moonlight they can see them distinctly at some distance. As soon as they have determined on the Goondah they mean to secure, three of the koomkees (or decoy elephants) are conducted silently and slowly by their Mahotes (drivers) at a moderate distance from each other, near to the place where he is feeding; the koomkees advance very cautiously, feeding as they go along, and appear like wild elephants that had strayed from the herd. When the male perceives them approaching, if he takes the alarm and is viciously inclined, he beats the ground with his trunk and makes a noise, showing evident marks of his displeasure, and that he will not allow them to approach nearer; and if they persist, he will immediately attack and gore them with his tusks; for which reason they take care to retreat in good time. But should he be amorously disposed, as is generally the case, (as these males are supposed to be driven from the herd at a particular period by their seniors, to prevent their having connexion with the females of that herd,) he allows the females to approach, and sometimes even advances to meet them. When from these appearances the mahotes judge that he will become their prize, they conduct two of the females, one on each side, close to him, and make them advance backwards and press gently against his neck and shoulders; the third female then comes up and places herself directly across his tail in this situation, so far from suspecting any design against his liberty, he begins to toy with the females and caress them with his trunk: while thus engaged, the fourth female is brought near, with ropes and proper assistants, who immediately get under the belly of the third female, and put a slight cord (the Chilkah) round his hind legs; should he move, it is easily broken, in which case, if he takes no notice of this slight confinement, nor appears suspicious of what was going forward, the hunters then proceed to tie his legs with a strong cord (called Bunda), which is passed alternately, by means of a forked stick and a kind of hook, from one leg to the other, forming a figure of 8; and as these ropes are short, for the convenience of being more readily put around his legs, six or eight are generally employed, and they are made fast by another cord (the Dagbearee), which is passed a few turns perpendicularly between his legs, where the folds of the bundahs intersect each other. A strong cable (called the Phand,) with a running noose, sixty cubits long, is next put round each hind leg, immediately above the bundahs; and again above them, six or eight additional bundahs, according to the size of the elephant, are made fast, in the same manner as the

:

others were. The putting on these ropes generally takes up about twenty minutes, during which the utmost silence is observed; and the mahotes, who keep flat upon the necks of the females, are covered with dark-coloured cloths, which serve to keep them warm, and at the same time do not attract the notice of the elephant.-While the people are busily employed in tying the legs of the goondah, he caresses sometimes one, sometimes another, of the seducers..... In case of accidents, however, should the goondah get loose, the people upon the first alarm can always mount on the backs of the tame elephants, by a rope which hangs ready for the purpose, and thus get out of his reach. When his hind legs are properly secured, they leave him to himself, and retire to a small distance; as soon as the koomkees leave him, he attempts to follow, but, finding his legs tied, he is roused to a proper sense of his situation, and retreats towards the jungle; the mahotes follow at a moderate distance from him on the tame elephants, accompanied by a number of people that had been previously sent for, and who, as soon as the goondah passes near a stout tree, make a few turns of the phands (or long cables that are trailing behind him,) around its trunk: his progress being thus stopt, he becomes furious, and exerts his utmost force to disengage himself, nor will he then allow any of the koomkees to come near him; he is outrageous for some time, falling down and goring the earth with his tusks. If by these exertions the phands are once broken, which sometimes is effected, and he escapes into the thick jungle, the mahotes dare not advance for fear of the other wild elephants, and are therefore obliged to leave him to his fate; and in this hampered situation, it is said, he is even ungenerously attacked by the other wild elephants. As the cables are very strong and seldom give way, when he has exhausted himself by his exertions, the koomkees are again brought near, and take their former positions, viz. one on each side, and the other behind. After getting him nearer the tree, the people carry the ends of the long cables around his legs, then back and about the trunk of the tree, making if they can two or three turns, so as to prevent even the possibility of his escape. It would be almost impossible to secure an elephant in any other manner, as he would tear up any stake that could at the time be driven into the ground, and even the noise of doing it would frighten the elephant; therefore nothing less than a strong tree is ever trusted to by the hunters.

"For still further security, as well as to confine him from moving to either side, his fore legs are tied exactly in the same

manner as the hind legs were, and the phands or cables are made fast, one on each side, to trees or stakes driven deep into the earth. During the process of tying both the hind and fore legs, the fourth koomkee, or decoy elephant, gives assistance where necessary, and the people employed cautiously avoid going within reach of his trunk; and when he attempts to seize them, they retreat to the opposite side of the koomkees, and get on them if necessary, by means of the rope above mentioned, which hangs ready for them to lay hold of.

"Being thus secured, he is left, until, wearied by his fruitless exertions, he becomes more subdued. An abundant supply of food is placed near him; and after he has eaten of it, the necessary preparations are made to carry him off, by means of additional girths and strong ropes passed round his body and attached to two of the tame females.

Every thing being now ready, and a passage made from the jungle, all the ropes are taken off his legs, and only the strong rope remains round his hips to confine the motion of his hind legs; the koomkees pull him forwards by the large cables, and the people from behind urge him on. Instead of advancing in the direction they wish, he attempts to retreat further into the jungle; he exerts all his force, falls down, and tears the earth with his tusks, screaming and groaning, and by his violent exertions often hurts and bruises himself very much; and instances happen of their surviving these violent exertions only a few hours, or at most a few days. In general, however, they soon become reconciled to their fate, will eat immediately after they are taken, and, if necessary, may be conducted from the verge of the jungle as soon as a passage is cleared. When the elephant is brought to his proper station and made fast, he is treated with a mixture of severity and gentleness, and in a few months (if docile) he becomes tractable, and appears perfectly reconciled to his fate.

"It appears somewhat extraordinary, that though the goondah uses his utmost force to disengage himself when taken, and would kill any person coming within his reach, yet he never, or at least seldom, attempts to hurt the females that have ensnared him, but on the contrary seems pleased, (as often as they are brought near, in order to adjust his harnessing, or move and slacken those ropes which gall him,) soothed and comforted by them, as it were, for the loss of his liberty."

The more wholesale method of taking the wild elephants by the keddah, is of course a much more complex and tedious one, often requiring a period of several weeks, and the

exertions of five hundred people to effect the successful capture of a herd.

As the elephant is naturally of a social disposition, they congregate in troops of from forty to one hundred, under the guidance of one of the oldest and largest of the females and one of the largest males.

When a herd is discovered, the hunters disperse themselves so as to form an irregular circle, in which the elephants are inclosed. They then light fires and form tracts of communication with each other, so as to be able to concentrate themselves at any part of the circle which may be threatened with an attack from the inclosed herd.

"The first circle being thus formed, the remaining part of the day and night is spent in keeping watch by turns, or in cooking for themselves and companions. Early next morning one man is detached from each station, to form another circle in that direction where they wish the elephants to advance. When it is finished, the people stationed nearest to the first circle put out their fires, and file off to the right and left to form the advanced party, thus leaving an opening for the herd to advance through; and by this movement both the old and new circle are joined and form an oblong. The people from behind now begin shouting and making a noise with their rattles, tomtoms, &c. to cause the elephants to advance; and as soon as they are got within the new circle the people close up, take their proper stations, and pass the remaining part of the day and night as before. In the morning the same process is repeated, and in this manner the herd advances slowly in that direction where they find themselves least incommoded by the noise and clamour of the hunters, feeding, as they go along, upon branches of trees, leaves of bamboos, &c. which come in their way. If they suspected any snare, they could easily break through the circle; but this inoffensive animal going merely in quest of food, and not seeing any of the people who surround him, and who are concealed by the thick jungle, advances without suspicion, and appears only to avoid being pestered by their noise or din."

This process is repeated until the elephants are gradually brought to the keddah, or place where they are to be secured. This Mr. Corse describes as being composed of three distinct inclosures, communicating with each other by means of narrow openings or gateways, the last or furthermost into which the elephants are driven being the smallest.

"When the herd is brought near to the first inclosure, or Baigcote, which has two gateways towards the jungle, from which the elephants are to advance, (these as well as the other