KOOMKIES LEAVING THE M 40 AL E F A S T E N E D T O A T R E E .
clc„lv„,L, for were hn I., all«...!-! catcl.ing o„e larger ll,a,. I.ls own, l,c woal.l
J „nly'll,,,! il diffich, or i».rl,»ps impraCicablc. for the ,„»/,<,»/.. lo ihrow
,l,eir , ,A„„» over il» l.eaJ, b„l, if Ll.ey .houUl «.eeeecl i,. so ,lo,..g. superior
„ r e n i n , wonl.l eillu-r enable il lo run away will, ihe lame elepbanl, or lo
, I h r ow il 11 l>leaiure Those aul.i who have been aceustomecl lo llie
¡.„sincss he..ome exlren.ely e.perl, an.i rarely fail 10 ihrow i h e i n ihe
, „ „ s l elleelaal n.anner; eansing lliem lo light fairly i-ouncl the brows ami
hehin.l Ihe ears of ihe elephant, »hieh inslinelively cnrls up Us Irunk,
w h e r e b y ihe lower part of ihe ,,/,««„ slides over it, and eompletely envelopes
the u,.ek This being ellecleil by one .»»/.o»i, who iunued.at.dy slaekeus his
,,aee whereby the /,/„',»» lightens, the progress of ihe w ild elephant is impeded,
aud lime is ihus given for anolher mo/lo»i lo eome up on the oilier side,
and 10 Ihrow his th u s the chase is eonliued belweeu two elephants, boll,
of whieh sh,ckeniu.r ilieir speed, hitherto exerted to the utmost lo come up, and
boll, be ing straiiie,l lighl, llie power of breathing i, straightened,
sulheieutly to give the »o/,o»/.< command over the captive. Should be, bowever
prove resolulc, il beco,nes necessary to hold back strongly, in order lo
debar .-espiralion allogelher, and occasion his falling. To recover tile fainting
animal, recourse is had lo the loosing line, whereby the ar e slackened,
and he is gradual l y restored.
T h o u g h apparently secure, il is no easy matter u> get an elephant to his
slaliou l' Many w ill ije the ellorl« lie will make to escape, and it requires great
caulioii and vigilance while eondueling him to a place of securi ty; for be will
ofleii imike smhien slarU, aud attempt lo overturn the leading elephants. Il
will be sufficiently obvious, Hull no safe means could be used until an animal
ill so savage a stale might be fastened lo a tree, where he would be more
under coiiimaud.
My worlhy friend, the hue Major Lally, when on command al Jl«gg«i,
caugiil many in ihis manner. He ha.l no liowdah; indeed he could not have
venlureil in one, as it would have exposed him to destruction. Having a large
p o r t e r cask, he hxed it. by beams an.l chains, as securely as wood and iron could
elfeel. lo the back of a large male elepbanl, accustomed to the sport, and having
a scat „,ade wilhin il, be used to sally forth, armed will, pistols and some old
inus.picls, of which the barrels were cut down lo a commodious length. In
this be considered himself to he tolerably secure from the brunt of ihc battle ;
and be was Indeed very successful. However, his zeal one day got the hotter
of his prudence, and induced him to give chase lo a very lai-gc male, such as
proved an overmatch for that on which he was eiilowered. Among oilier
casualties, his own elephinit was upset; the whole a|)paratus levelled to llie
ground wilb a violent crash ; and the Major's life saved by the mere circumstances
of tlie indignant animal heing more intent on routing the rest of its own
species, lhan in venting his rage on the pigmies of the human race!
This kind of sport cannot be classed among the elleminacies of the day !
What with Ihc nature of the game, aud the uneven, and indeed the unascertained,
as well as imperceplihie surface of the g,-ouiul, whieli is covered with
l ^ a v y grass-jungle, ami in many places iiilerseeled with ravines, we may safely
class it among the most arduous, as well as the most dangerous, of recreations I
I have never partaken of il ; but from the ideas with whieh 1 am impressed, it
ivouhl require somelhing beyond common argument, or inducement, lo lead
me forth on such an occasion. In my opinion, a ioom/de driver's occupation is
b y far the least hazardous ; tiger hunting is sufficiently inlerest ing, ami may be
called, without derogation to any man' s spirit, the «c/)/«s u//ra of sporting.
C h i t t a g o n g elephants growing lo a larger size, and being more substantially
formed, arc peculiarly valuable to those who cateh elephants with ,,/minis. The
o n l y objection is, lliat they sometimes waul sjieed. They are more hcallliy after
b e i n g once seasoned lo the climate of the northern di.stricts ; whorens the
N a p a u l elephants are ext,-einely defective not only in the three grand points,
viz. stature, strength, and beauty, but in constitution also. Hence they are of
much less value than those from Chittagong, Tipperah, and Silhet i which are
to be preferred according lo llieir proximi ty to the sea coast, near which ihey
a r e found lo thrive far belter than In midland situations, Of tins a very
s t r i k i n g pi-oof may be adduced regarding ihe Ceylon breed, which far e.xceeds
t h a t on the continent. It becomes a curious ([ueslion whence Ceylon was hrst
f u r n i s h e d willi elephants, there being none on the opposite shores, nor to be
found in all the great Peninsula, from the wcsl bank of the Ganges lo the
P e r s i a n giilph ! Besides, the generalily of ihe Ceylon elephants arc of a brown
o r dun colour, whieh is unknown in Bengal, whence not only the Carnatie, hut
t h e whole of the Mabarratlah and Persian dominions are supplied. If a conj
e c t u r e might he olfered on so mysterious a subject, i twouhl be thai the Dutch
o r i g i n a l l y conveyed elephants, cither as presents or for their own purposes,
f r om Merqui ami other parts of the East coast, where a breed somewhat
similar to that of Ceylon is said to exist.
Ill many situations wher e elcpbanls abound, it would either be impraetieable
to construct hMa/is, or they could not be used from the want of capital, as
well as of population lo drive the herds in. The peasants liiid them very
irouhlesome and bad neighbours, and would willingly destroy them ; some use
i n t o x i c a t i n g herbs for this purpose, but with little success. The ordinary
practice in such situalioiis is to catch them in pits, over whieh a slight platform
of brandies, covered wilb grass and rushes being laid, the wild elephants are
l e d , by causing a lame one to approach them. The former arc extremel y jealous
of strangers, an.l rarely fail lo chase, no doubt with the intentioii t o destroy either
t h e animal, or llie mo/ioii/, who carefully guides his animal close lo llie pit,
b e i n g directml by marks elevated above the lops of the surroiimliiig cover. The
l e a d i n g pursuer generally is preciiiilalcd, and by bis hideous noles, giving the
alarm, checks the ,-est; which, in general, recede with haste, leaving their unf
o r t u n a t e companion in llie lurch. These traps are also made ill ibosc paths
muel, frequented by elephanLs, which in their iiigblly rambles occasionally