Tun elephant has long been disturbed in his native haunts by the enterprising sportsman. In Southern Afri ca, the ignorant Hottentot pursues him for the sake of his flesh, the equally ignorant boor prizes the ivory of his tusks, and the planter regards him as the enemy of his fields and vineyards. Hence it is that various methods have been devised to gain possession of the unwieldy monster. The savage employs his poisoned arrow, and puts an end to the lingering torture by means of his lance. 1Vhcre the use of gunpowder is known, the musket is usually made use of; but for this purpose the calibre must be of a considerable size, and, in order to inflict a mortal wound, the ball should strike him a little above the insertion of the trunk. But this kind of sport is at tended with the greatest danger, as he is seldom brought dead to the ground, and when slightly wounded pursues with the greatest eagerness, and often with fatal certain ty, the author of his pain. The most simple, and pro bably the most ancient method of catching the elephant, is one frequently employed by savage tribes. A round and deep hole is dug in the earth, near his ordinary haunts, which is carefully covered at the mouth with the branches of trees and grass, by which means the unwary animal is deceived, and falls headlong into the snare. But other methods arc resorted to when the elephant is sought after as an animal capable of being trained and rendered useful to man. In what manner the ancients recruited the vast hosts of these animals which were at tached to their armies, we are at present ignorant. The practice followed at present in the different districts of Asia, and which has obtained for many generations, seems to be the result of an intimate knowledge of the habits of the animal, and appears to be both ingenious and effec tive. We propose to lay before our readers a short ac count of this method, from the interesting paper of Mr Corse Scott.
Previous to an elephant hunt, which is a work of great labour, a few of the more intelligent and active natives are sent into the forests, for the purpose of discovering the retreats of the animals. They endeavour to ascertain in what direction they range in the greatest numbers, and where they are accustomed to feed. " When a herd is discovered, about 300 people are employed to sur round it, who divide themselves into small parties, con sisting generally of three men, each at the distance of twenty or thirty yards from each other, and form an ir regular circle, in which the elephants are inclosed : each party lights a fire and clears a foot path to the station that is next him, by which a regular communication is soon formed through the whole circumference from one to the other. By this path reinforcements can immediately be brought to any place where an alarm is given ; and it is also necessary for the superintendants, who are al ways going round to see that the people are alert upon their posts. The first circle being thus formed, the re maining part of the day and night is spent in keeping watch by turns, or in cooking for themselves and com panions. 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 new 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 ob long. The people from behind now begin shouting and making a noise with their rattles, drums, &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 in commoded by the noise and clamour of the hunters, feeding, as they go along, upon branches of trees, &c. 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 peo ple who surround him, and who are concealed by the thick jungle, advances without suspicion, and appears only to avoid being pestered by their noise. As fire is the thing elephants seem most afraid of in their wild state, and will seldom venture near it, the hunters al ways have a number of fires lighted, and particularly at night, to prevent the elephants coming too near, as well as to cook their victuals and keep them warm. The sentinels supply these fires with fuel, especially green bamboos, which are generally at hand, and which, by the and loud report they make, together with the noise of the watchmen, deter the elephants from coming near ; so that the herd generally remains at a distance near the centre of the circle. Should they at any time advance, the alarm is given, and all the peo ple immediately make a noise and use their rattles, to make them keep at a greater distance. In this manner
they are gradually brought to the Keddah, or place where they are to be secured. The Keddah is differ ently constructed in different places. At Tippera it usually consists of three inclosures, communicating with each other by means of narrow openings or gateways. The outer inclosure, or the one next to the place where the elephants are to enter, is the largest; the middle one is generally, though not always, the next in size, and the third or furthermost is the smallest ; and when in the third or last inclosure, the elephants are then only deemed secure : here they are kept six or eight days, and are regularly, though scantily, fed from a scaffold on the outside, close to the entrance of an outlet, which is about sixty feet long and very narrow, and through which the elephants are to be taken out one by one. In many places this mode is not adopted ; for, as soon as the herd has been surrounded by a strong palisade, Koomkees are sent in with proper people, who tie them on the spot, in the same manner as is done with the Goondahs or male elephants that are taken singly. These enclosures are all pretty strong, but the third is the strongest, and has, like the other two, a pretty deep ditch on the inside ; and upon the bank of earth, that is thrown up from the excavation, a row of strong pa lisades of middle sized trees is planted, strengthened with.cross bars, which are tied to them about the dis tance of fourteen inches from each other, and these are supported on the outside by strong posts like buttresses, having one end sunk in the earth, and the other press ing against the cross bars to which they are fastened. The greatest difficulty is to get the herd to enter the en closure ; for, notwithstanding the precautions taken to disguise the entry, as well as the palisade which sur rounds this inclosure, the leader now appears to suspect some snare, from the difficulty and hesitation with which in general she passes into it ; but, as soon as she enters, the whole herd implicitly follows. Immediately, when they are all passed the gateway, fires are lighted round the greatest part of the inclosure, and particularly at the entries, to prevent the elephants from returning. The hunters from without- then make a terrible noise, by shouting, beating of drums, firing blunt cartridges, Ste. to urge the herd on to the next inclosure. The elephants, finding themselves ensnared, scream and make a noise, but seeing no opening except the entrance to the next inclosure, and which they at first generally avoid, they return to the place through which they lately passed, thinking, perhaps, to escape, but now find it strongly barricaded, and, as there is no ditch at this place, the hunters, to prevent their coming near and forcing their way, keep a line of fire constantly burning all along where the ditch is interrupted, and supply it with fuel from the top of the palisade, and the people from with out make a noise, shouting and hallooing to drive them away. Wherever they turn, they find themselves op posed by burning fires, or bundles of reeds and dried grass, which are thrust through the opening of the pa lisades, except towards the entrance of the second in closure. After traversing the first inclosure, and find ing no chance of escaping but through the gateway into the next inclosure, the leader enters, and the rest fol low ; the gate is instantly shut, by people who are sta tioned on a small scaffold immediately above it, and strongly barricadoed, fires are lighted, and the same discordant din made and continued, till the herd has passed through another gateway into the last inclosure, the gate of which is secured in the same manner as the former was. The elephants being now completely sur rounded on all sides, and perceiving no outlet through which they can escape, appear desperate, and in their fury advance frequently to the ditch, in order to break down the palisade, inflating their trunks, screaming louder and shriller than any trumpet, sometimes grum bling like the hollow murmur of distant thunder ; but wherever they make an attack, they are opposed by lighted fires, and by the noise and triumphant shouts of the hunters. As they must remain some time in this in closure, care is always taken to have part of the ditch filled with water, which is supplied by a small stream, either natural, or conducted through an artificial chan nel from some neighbouring reservoir. The elephants have recourse to this water to quench their thirst after their fatigues, by sucking the water into their trunks, and then squirting it over every part of their bodies. While they remain in this inclosure they continue sulky, and seem to meditate their escape ; but the hunters build huts around them close to the palisade, watchmen are placed, and every precaution used to prevent their breaking through.