to Passumah, "The natives fancy that there are two kinds of elephants,-the gaja berkampong, those which always go in herds, and which are seldom mischievous, and the gaja salunggal, or single elephants, which are much larger and ferocious, going about either singly or only two or three in company. It is probable the latter kind are only the full-grown males." They probably, in many cases, separate themselves from their companions in search of fresh pastures. But as they are sometimes found in a state of considerable irritation, doing much mischief wherever they pass, it has been thought that these have been driven away by the stronger males, and that they are suffering all the agonies of unavailing jealousy. Being the finest. elephants, and therefore the best adapted for sale, the hunters soon mark them for their own. They follow them cautiously by day and by night, with two, and sometimes four trained females, called Koomkies. If it be dark they can hear the animal striking his food, to clean it, against his fore legs, and they then approach tolerably close;—if light, they advance more cautiously. The females gradually move towards him, apparently unconscious of his presence, grazing with great complacency, as if they were, like him, inhabitants of the wild forest. It is soon perceived by them whether he is likely to be entrapped by their arts. The drivers remain concealed at a little distance, while the koomkies press round the unhappy goondah, or saun, (for so this sort of elephant is called). If he abandon himself to the caresses of his new companions, his capture is almost certain. The hunters cautiously creep under him, and during the intoxication of his pleasure, fasten his fore-legs with a strong rope. It is said that the wily females

* Sir Stamford Raffles' Life and Correspondence, p. 315.

will not only divert his attention from their mohouts, but absolutely assist them in fastening the cords. Mr. Howitt made a spirited drawing of this curious scene, from the descriptions of Captain Williamson.

The hind-legs of the captive being secured in a similar manner, the hunters leave him to himself, and retire to a short distance. In some cases he is fastened at once to a large tree, if the situation in which he is first entrapped allows this. But under other circumstances, in the first instance his legs are only tied together. When the females quit him he discovers his ignominious condition, and attempts to retreat to the covert of the forest. But he moves with difficulty, in consequence of the ropes which have been lashed round his limbs. There are long cables trailing behind him; and the mohauts, watching an opportunity, secure these to a tree of sufficient strength. He now becomes furious, throwing himself down, and thrusting his tusks into the earth. If he break the cables, and escape into the forest, the hunters dare not pursue him; but if he is adequately bound, he soon becomes exhausted with his own rage. He is then left to the further operation of hunger, till he is sufficiently subdued to be conducted, under the escort of his treacherous friends, to an appointed station, to which, after a few months' discipline, he becomes reconciled *.

In the kingdom of Ava all the elephants are caught by decoy females, though the process is somewhat different from that practised by the Koomkies of British India. Mr. Crawfurd informs us that the King of Ava" is possessed, in all, of about one thousand elephants, divided into two classes: those which are thoroughly broken in and tamed, consisting prin

*See Williamson's Sports; and Mr. Corse's paper in the Asiatic Transactions, vol. iii.

cipally of males; and those that are employed as decoys, all females, and in a half-wild state." These decoys are generally kept in the neigbourhood of forests frequented by elephants;-and when the herd is joined by a wild male, they are all driven into the capital, to a place called the elephant palace," appropriated for exhibiting, for the king's diversion, the taming of the wild male elephant. This place is a square inclosure, surrounded everywhere by a double palisade, composed of immense beams of teak timber, each equal in diameter to the main-mast of a four-hundred-ton ship. Between the palisades there is a stone wall, about fourteen feet high and twenty thick. On the top of this the spectators are seated to view the sport. . . The inclosure has two entrances; the gates of which are composed of beams, which can be moved at the bottom by means of ropes." We shall extract Mr. Crawfurd's amusing description of the scene which took place in this enclosure:

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A cloud of dust announced the approach of the elephants, about twenty in number: these, with the exception of the captive, were all females, several of them with their young following them. A few of the best broken-in only were mounted. Partly by persuasion, and partly by force, these were seen driving before them a small male elephant, not, as we were told, above thirteen years old: it required at least half an hour to induce him to enter the gate of the inclosure. A very docile female elephant led the way, conducted by her keeper; but the half-tamed females were nearly as reluctant to enter as the wild male himself; they went five or six times half-way in before they were finally entrapped; and, twice over, the male had run off to the distance of a quarter of a mile from the inclosure, but was again brought back by the females.

VOL. II.

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