Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity (Based on the Arthashastra of Kautilya), Vol. I c8.7

c8.7

The captors, with five or seven female elephants (हस्तिदमकी) which had been specially taught the devices of capture, roamed about in summer—the season for the capture of elephants—in the forests, and traced the whereabouts of herds of elephants by following the course of their dung and urine (हस्तिमुत्रपुरी-षधम्य) and by observing their footmarks (पथा), the spots where they reposed (मध्यास्थान), and the banks of rivers, lakes, etc., damaged by them (इतपातोहेमेन). The captors passed along the lines of भल्लातक trees (Semecarpus anacardium), called Bhelâ (ভেলা) in Bengali. One of the reasons for this was perhaps that the trees, being very shady, afforded a good resting-place for the animals, where the herds or clues to their wanderings were most likely to be found. It is also possible that the leaves and branches of the trees formed a favourite food of the animals, for भल्लातक is mentioned as a medicinal plant in the extant works¹ on हस्त्यायुर्वेद and अश्वशास्त्र alike, the properties of which, according to medical authorities (quoted in *Elephants and their Diseases*, by Lt.-Col. Evans, p. 144), are mainly those of a stimulant, and admit of both internal and external uses.