ELEPHANT-MAR TS. 



91 



Ceylon, of elephants exported from the island during the years 1863-76. 

 The sudden decrease in 1870 is due to the imposition in that year of an 

 export duty of £20 per head, and lately the export has been entirely closed 

 as a temporary measure, as it was feared that under the then existing rules 

 for their capture and destruction, the practical extinction of elephants in 

 the island might be expected at no distant date. 



Elephants Exported from Ceylon from 1S63 to 1876. 



The great annual fair held at S5nepoor, on the Ganges, is the chief 

 mart in India for the sale of elephants. It is held on the occasion of the 

 gathering of some hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to worship at a noted 

 shrine of Shiva, and bathe in the Ganges, at the full moon of the month of 

 October — November. Thousands of horses and hundreds of elephants are 

 collected there, and for this point all dealers in elephants make. Such 

 elephants as they do not then dispose of are taken about amongst rajahs 

 and native princes. Traders in elephants are, as to character, pretty much 

 on a par with dealers in horses all the world over. I once met a humorous 

 old Kabul merchant at Dacca. He and some fellow-dealers came to the 

 peclkh&na (elephant-stables) day after day, and importuned me to sell some 

 of the newly-caught elephants from Chittagong. It is not uncommon to 

 dispose of such as, from some cause, may be unfit for Government service ; 

 but on this occasion all were required for filling up vacancies in the Com- 

 missariat Department. There was one very old female, however, that I 

 knew would never be fit for work, whilst being handsome, and in good con- 

 dition, she might suit a native for show. I therefore offered her to the 

 dealers for 400 rupees (£40), a very low figure. We proceeded to her 

 picket, where the head dealer, a patriarchal-looking old fellow, examined 

 her with attention for some time, and then turned away with a sigh. I 

 asked him if the price was too high. " No," he said, " it is not that. The 

 sight of the elephant makes me think of my poor old grandmother. She 

 died when I was a lad. What an elephant that would have been for her!" 



The price of elephants throughout India has increased enormously of 

 late years. A considerable number were formerly purchased at S5nepoor 



