ootmen, and by a detachment mounted on elephants.
[PLATE XLIII.] The elephants, which are nine in number, occupy the
extreme right of the tablet, and seem to be employed in driving the deer
into certain prepared enclosures. Each of the beasts is guided by three
riders, sitting along their backs, of whom the central one alone has the
support of a saddle or howdah. The enclosures into which the elephants
drive the game are three in number; they are surrounded by nets; and
from the central one alone is there an exit. Through this exit, which is
guarded by two footmen, the game passes into the central field, or main
space of the sculpture, where the king awaits them. He is mounted on his
steed, with his bow passed over his head, his sword at his side, and
an attendant holding the royal parasol over him. It is not quite clear
whether he himself does more than witness the chase. The game is in
the main pursued and brought to the ground by horsemen without royal
insignia, and is then passed over into a further compartment--the
extreme one towards the left, where it is properly arranged and placed
upon camels for conveyance to the royal palace. During the whole
proceeding a band of twenty-six musicians, some of whom occupy an
elevated platform, delights with a "concord of sweet sounds" the
assembled sportsmen.

[Illustration: PLATE XLIII.]

On the opposite, or left-hand, side of the recess, is represented a
boar-hunt. [PLATE XLIV.] Here again, elephants, twelve in number, drive
the game into an enclosure without exit. Within this space nearly a
hundred boars and pigs may be counted. The ground being marshy, the
monarch occupies a boat in the centre, and from this transfixes the game
with his arrows. No one else takes part in the sport, unless it be the
riders on a troop of five elephants, represented in the lower middle
portion of the tablet. When the pigs fall, they are carried into
a second enclosure, that on the right, where they are upturned,
disembowelled, and placed across the backs of elephants, which convey
them to the abode of the monarch. Once more, the scene is enlivened by
music. Two bands of harpers occupy boats on either side of that which
carries the king, while another harper sits with him in the boat from
which he delivers his arrows. In the water about the boats are seen
reeds, ducks, and numerous fishes. The oars by which the boats are
propelled have a singular resemblance to those which are represented