The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-05-13
A Sport of Kings.

When a native king of India goes In for sport he does so on a royal scale. No mere ''potting'' at a score of birds will satisfy him. "A king of beasts for a king of men," he says. If anything is to be driven 1t must be "my lord the ele- phant." So reclining in a divan the king gives an order. Swiftly men run to do his bidding Eight hundred or thou sand of hls loyal subjects hie them forth to the jungle. They choose piece some 20 or so acres in extent and forthwith begin to build "kraal" huge cir cular fence Is erected, the uprfghts being unbarhed tree trunks some 12 feet high. Two feet of their length Is sunk In the ground. leaving 10 feet to form the fence. Two lines of huge cross pieces are then lashed to these uprghts with jungle vines, which are always plentiful. The stockade is completed with number of immense sloping props on the outside.
 When finished the ''kraal' is com plete circle, all but an opening of 20 or 25 feet. From this opening two diverging fences spring, forming a huge bottle neck several hundred of yards long and about 400 yards wide at the mouth. The erection of the "kraai takes two or three weeks of most back kbreaking work, even though a small army of tame ele- phants help. The ''mahout," or driver, seated on the great beasts neck, with his legs covered by the animals huge ears. Is nominally in charge, but many of the trained elephants seem to know what to do without any directions. They put their heads against tree, 10 or dozen inches thick, and give It a shove and down it comes like a broken cornstalk. When 1t is stripped of its branches and cut to the proper length another elephant carries 1t to It's place in the stockade. And so the work goes on, the interior of the "kraal' being cleared whilst the fencing is erect ed. Then begins the hunt proper. An army of beaters SCOUT the country. They are brown men, who know the jungle as well as we know our native streets, and they quickly locate feeding herd of the kingly beasts. The beaters go softly, so softly that they seem but shadows flicker ing in and out of the tree trunks until they have completely surrounded the herd. Then the half of the circle farthest from the 'kraal'' begins to advance with a fearful uproar of shouting and gun flr- Ing and a demoniac waving of torches. The half of the circle of beaters nearest the "kraal' make little or no noise unless their captive threatens to break out and get away. Thus slowly mile by mile, day by day, 1t may be for a week, 1t may be for a fortnight, the herd is driven un- til at last 1t is within the bottle neck"
 Then the fun begins. The king, who has ordered the hunt, is seated on a high staging, surrounded by his court and visitors, where they can see all that Is kA Ix.,.A
 ade, some on the backs of tame elephants and others. called ''noosers," on foot and armed with kind of lasso, the end of which is fast to a tame elephants neck
 Oddly enough the mounted hunters are In no danger, for though the wild beasts could easily reach them with their trunks they never look up and so do not see them. They devote all their attention to the "noosers" who, however. dodge them as readily as the Spanish toreador lodges the charging bull
 Then 1t becomes a game of pull" Trumpeting with rage and digging his great feet into the ground, the captured elephant seeks to resist the strain on him. But by the reason of the com polling moose, he has only three feet to the tame elephants four. and eventually he Is dragged out of the stockade to big tree. Round this the tame elephant winds the moose rope until the captive has only a foot or so for freedom. Then another of his feet Is made fast to another tree, and he falls to the ground, trumpeting in n way that Is almost ter rifying The king directs his men by shouts to attack this or that animal, and may, If beast prove too wild to catch, dispatch 1t himself with an Express" rife. Sometimes a more than usually fierce elephant will charge headlong at the stockade and, breaking 1t, will escape to the jungle again, followed by his triumphant companions. To prevent the outside armed with long spears with which they jab at any elephant which comes too near. At night time the ''kraal'' is surrounded by a ring of fires. The hunt usually lasts five or six days. The price paid for a wild elephant varies from $100 to $1,000, according to the age and size and other things An exper- fenced hunter will often earn enough In one hunt to keep him for q year.. The elephants are largely trained by their tame companions. If they require to be beaten the thrashing is done by two trained elephants. When m elephant is once tame q tap on the foot with stick Is all the correction 1t needs. Kindness has large place in the training of My lord, the elephant and before long they usually become most attached to their 'mahouts." 1t is said that an elephant makes the most trustworthy nursemaid that can be imagined. and 1t is certainly no unusual sight to see na- tive chiid safely asleep between its