and reeds high enough to conceal elephants. The force employed to effect this surround consisted of two regiments of Nepalese soldiers commanded by the General-in-Chief of the Nepalese army. But on this occasion the Nepalese Government had determined to try the system of Kheddahs usually adopted in Assam and Southern India by the Indian Government, and had obtained the services of Mr. Armstrong, of the Bengal Police, and of some of the skilled elephant-catchers formerly employed by the Government Kheddah department at Dacca, which has now been disbanded. After the wild elephants, about thirty in number, had been surrounded, a line of guards was immediately stationed at posts fifteen to twenty yards apart all round the forest. At each of these posts three soldiers were on guard, who built themselves grass huts and kept fires burning all night to keep the wild elephants from breaking out. Our camp was on the low banks of a river overlooking the scene of operations and close behind the guard line.
The first thing to do was to select a position for and build a stockade into which the elephants could be driven, and here the old Jemadar from Dacca, a veteran of seventy years who had spent his life in this work, was the best adviser. lie insisted on going alone on foot into the ring where tigers and rhinoceri were known to be at large with the wild herd in order to choose the most suitable place. For long experience has shown that wild elephants cannot be driven like cattle, and it was evident, from the frequent attempts which they made all night to break out in a particular direction, where was the best place to build the stockade. This took three days’ hard work, as a large number of strong posts fifteen feet long by eight or ten inches diameter had to be fixed in the ground and supported by struts and crossbars strong enough to resist the pressure of the herd when driven in. The stockade was oblong, about fifteen by twenty yards, with a falling gate on one side suspended by ropes which are cut to let it drop, From the entrance a narrow lane of strong posts extended for 200 yards, gradually widening into two wings which opened out to twenty yards wide, and were extended by a line of cloths hung on poles to form a lead into the mouth of the alley. The walls of the stockade and the lane leading to it were covered by grass and branches, so that the elephants might not suspect danger too soon.
During the four nights that we were in camp waiting for the stockade to be built, there were constant alarms at various points on the line, as at night the wild herd, after drinking in the river where we could often see their backs and hear their trumpeting and screams from our tents, made efforts to find a weak spot in the guard line. On the second night a wild tusker supposed to be a rogue broke into the surrounded area from the outside and made the enclosed herd very uneasy. This tusker was very bold, and one night just after dinner he came down and stood within twenty yards of the fires, where a crowd of excited men were yelling and firing blank charges in his face, and we quite expected that he would attack and break out. But though we saw him quite close in the moonlight he eventually retired and the camp became quiet again.
On February 12th, after several alarms in the course of the night, which must have been a trying and anxious one for the guards, who had now been
