MY JEMADAR'S VIEWS. 115 



through bamboos across the trench, emptying into an improvised trough. 

 As none of the mahouts had seen elephants caught before, except single ones, 

 they were rather nervous about entering with but ten among so many wild 

 ones. P. rode one pad-elephant in advance, and I another, to encourage 

 the men. The wild ones all mobbed together when we entered, and showed 

 great interest in our elephants. After some little time we separated a few 

 from the herd, and a mahout slipped off under cover of our tame elephants 

 and secured a noose round a young tusker's hind-leg. The tame elephants 

 then dragged and pushed him backwards nearly to the gate of the kheddah, 

 where we secured him between two trees. We afterwards found, however, 

 that it was much easier to hobble each elephant's hind-legs, and then to let 

 it fatigue itself by dragging them after it for some time before we finally 

 secured it, than to proceed as we did at first. 



In ten days, during which time the visitors remained, and we had 

 a merry camp, we secured all the elephants. Calves were allowed to go 

 loose with their mothers. The captives were led out of the enclosure by 

 our elephants as fast as they were secured, across the river, and were 

 picketed in the forest. Water-troughs were made for them of hollowed 

 lengths of date-trees. These were pushed within their reach by a bamboo, 

 and withdrawn with a rope to be again filled. Two men were appointed to 

 each large elephant, and one to each small one. They made themselves 

 shelters of boughs and mats just beyond the reach of their charges, and by 

 constantly moving about them, singing to, and feeding them, many could 

 handle their elephants in a few days. The elephants at first kicked or 

 rushed at their captors (they very seldom struck with their trunks) ; but as 

 soon as they found nothing was done to hurt them they gained confidence, 

 and their natural timidity then made them submit without further resist- 

 ance. There was a great variety of temperament observable amongst them. 

 The small elephants, about a third grown (particularly females), gave the 

 most trouble. The head jemadar ascribed it to their sex and time of life. 

 " Wasn't it so with human beings ? " he said. " How troublesome women 

 were compared to men, who were always quiet ! " He was a Mussulman, 

 and had several ladies in his establishment, so, as I was an inexperienced 

 bachelor, I did not presume to question his dictum. One young elephant 

 lost the sole of one foot with three toes attached after it had become loos- 

 ened from her violence in continually kicking up the ground, and died soon 

 afterwards. A mahout and I mounted a full-grown female on the sixth 

 day after she was removed from the enclosure, without the presence of a 

 tame elephant, which shows how soon elephants may be subjugated by 

 kind treatment. 



