AD. THE ENGLISH VOYAGES 



1563-81. 



they have gotten him into one of those houses, they 



stand over him in a loft and get ropes under his belly 



and about his necke, and about his legges, and binde 



him fast, and so let him stand foure or five dayes, and 



A strange give him neither meate nor drinke. At the ende of 



thing that a |-}^ese foure or five dayes, they unloose him and put one 



should in so °^ ^^ females unto him, and give them meate and drinke, 



short time be and in eight dayes he is become tame. In my judgment 



made tame. there is not a beast so intellective as are these Eliphants, 



nor of more understanding in al the world : for he wil 



do all things that his keeper saith, so that he lacketh 



nothing but humaine speech. 



The greatest It is reported that the greatest strength that the king 



strength that ^f Pgg^ h^th is in these Eliphants, for when they goe 



P^emYa'th ^° battell, they set on their backes a Castle of wood 



bound thereto, with bands under their bellies : and in 



every Castle foure men very commodiously set to fight 



with hargubushes, with bowes and arrowes, with darts 



and pikes, and other launcing weapons : and they say 



that the skinne of this Eliphant is so hard, that an 



harquebusse will not pierce it, unlesse it bee in the eye, 



A goodly order temples, or some other tender place of his body. And 



in a barbarous besides this, they are of great strength, and have a very 



peope. excellent order in their battel, as I have scene at their 



feastes which they make in the yeere, in which feastes 



the king maketh triumphes, which is a rare thing and 



worthy memorie, that in so barbarous a people there 



The order oj should be such goodly orders as they have in their 



their weapons armies, which be distinct in squares of Eliphants, of 



his men ^^ horsemen, of harquebushers and pikemen, that truly the 



number of them are infinite : but their armour and 



weapons are very nought and weake as well the one as 



the other : they have very bad pikes, their swords are 



worse made, like long knives without points, his harque- 



bushes are most excellent, and alway in his warres he 



hath eightie thousand harquebushes, and the number of 



them encreaseth dayly. Because the king will have 



[II. i. 236.] them shoote every day at the Plancke, and so by con- 



424 



