The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-07-10 00:00:00

AN ELEPHANT FIGHT.

The Baroda correspondent of the Pioneer, in giving an
account of the festivities which followed upon the installa-
tion of the new Guicowar, describes as follows au encounter
between elephants which took place on the 4th ult., and at
wnich Sir Richard Meade and a number of Europeans were
present :
Elephant fighting, for ages past, has been the weekly
sport of the Baroda Guicowars. The sport is not
always confined to encounters between two elephants,
but other animals such as cheetahs, rhinoceri, and
horsemen. Sir Madava Rao kindly invited the gentle-
men and lady residents of Baroda to an entertainment
of this sort, and after a great many postponements it
came off yesterday. Taking place in a high-walled arena,
built expressly for the purpose on the ground adjoining
the elephant stables; it was unnecessary for the mahouts
to lead the animals, which were mustee, any long way.
Invitations were issued for four p.m., and as early as two
o'clock the streets from the camp to the city were
thronged with people hastening to the grounds. There
were places set apart for the Guicowar and the European
visitors; on the storey immediately above this was the
place set apart for the Maharanee Jumnabaie and the
ladies, almost parallel with the seats of the Guicowar,
and on another raised platform were the Guicowar's
younger brother and eousin. father, and dn.. relations.
Immediately above this were seated Colonel Succaram
Martand, Mr. Venavek, Rao Keertanay, Mr. Ratnnath
Rao, Mr. Vithul Bhau Dajee, and other gentlemen
who constitute the local native aristocracy. The
tops of the arena walls and the mounds around were
crowded by thousands of natives, hundreds of whom
squatted in rows five or six deep, and with open um-
brellas resembled regularly laid beds of mushrooms.
In the arena, which is about 15,000 yards long and 1,000
wide, to the right and left of the Guicowar's seats
were two little domes of brick and chunam about ten
feet high and 50 or 60 in circumference. There were
openings all round these domes high enough for a
man to rush in. In front of each of these domes stood
an elephant with a quantity of brick-dust and oil
daubed over its face, its hind legs heavily chained
and attached through a door in the dome to a heavy
wooden block which ran across, and also a heavy chain
on one fore leg, held by a mahout, who took precious
good care to keep at about a hundred yards distance.
There were about 150 gaudily dressed athletes and
budmashes carrying long spears and whips. As the
ladies arrived they were conducted to the Maharanee
Jumnabaie's room, and the gentlemen, who all put in
an appearance by five o'clock, rose as the Guicowar
entered at five punctually. Sir Richard Meade led
him in, and after conducting him to a seat presented
each gentlenjan in turn. Mr. Richey, the First
Assistant Resident, brought in the little Princess
Tarabaie, who was very handsomely dressed. I was
close enough to the Guicowar to remark that his face
is pitted by small-pox. This is a thing that you notice
in every member of the Guicowar's family, however
distantly connected, and the cause is that no member
of the family is permitted to undergo vaccination.
The little Princess Tarabaie is the only one who has
a fair, clear skin; and I believe that although many
medical men have advised the Maharanee Jamnabaie
to have her vaccinated, they have never succeeded in
persuading her.
A signal was given, and the hindlegs of the elephants
were unfettered. Two mahouts then ran before, and
by a curious click of the tongue attracted the atten-
tion of the animals and led them on thus until they
saw one another. Lashing their tails and waving
their uplifted trunks the animals rushed at each
other, and no sooner did they come tete-ct-ttte than
they stopped and seemed to watch each other's eyes.
The first movement was for one to try and gain an
advantage over the other by clasping with its trunk
the tusks and upper jaw. The lower jaws of the
animals trembled with rage, and all of a sudden you
saw the tusks clash, and one tried to push the other
backwards. The hold on the tusks is the principal
endeavour of the animals, and it was wonderful to see
with what amazing alacrity the one avoided the other's
grip. Once only the smaller elephant of the two
pinned his antagonist to the ground, and roaring with
pain the latter was lifted off his hind legs to about two
feet in height for about a couple of minutes. After
the first two elephants were removed, two more were
brought in, but the fight was not so lively, as one
animal was much weaker than the other. After
these animals were removed, a single elephant,
which was very must, was let loose and was goaded
to madness by the shouts and spears of the
athletes and budmasbes. When they had well nigh
succeeded in rousing him, a horseman mounted
on a high caste grey Arab, leisurely cantered up to
within a couple of feet from the elephant. The rider
had nothing but a sharp thonged whip in his hand. I
must not forget to mention, however, that the elephant
laboured under a very great disadvantage. Owing to
a bite from some venomous snake some years ago, it
was rendered imperative to amputate his trunk, so
that that organ was minus the extremity which enables
the animal to grasp. In spite of this, however, the
elephant once or twice made a very sudden rush at
the horse as the rider tantalizingly allowed his animal
to keep almost under its trunk. Once indeed a
huzzah from the spectators showed that the elephant
had the rider almost by the waist; but in a second,
away he shot like an arrow, after giving the ele-
phant a sharp cut on the trunk when it touched him.
After this was over the rider was called up before the
Gnicowar, received his thanks through Sir Richard
Meade, and was presented with a red and gold gauze
turband, a pair of clothes, and a massive gold bracelet
valued at 15Ors. Another wild elephant was then
brought in, and was being tormented by the men to
such an extent that great apprehension was felt lest he
should attack the crowds squatted on the walls. He
did deprive a budmash of his turband, which he
speedily tore into a thousand pieces. At the request
of Sir Richard this entertainment, which seemed to be
mostly admired by the natives, was stopped.