256 PLiirr's natueal histort. [Book VIII. 



effects of hunger ; as a proof of which, they would quietly 

 take a branch that was extended to them by one of the men. 

 At the present day, when we take them for the sake of their 

 tusks, we throw darts at their feet, which are in general the 

 most tender part of their body. The Trogiodytse, who inhabit 

 the confines of Ethiopia, and who live entirely on the flesh of 

 elephants procured by the chase, climb the trees which lie 

 near the paths through which these animals usually pass. 

 Here they keep a watch, and look out for the one which comes 

 last in the ti'ain ; leaping down upon its haimches, they seize 

 its tail with the left hand, and fix their feet firmly upon the 

 left thigh. Hanging down in this manner, the man, with 

 his right hand, hamstrings the animal on one side, ^\T.th a 

 very sharp hatchet. The elephant's pace being retarded by 

 the wound, he cuts the tendons of the other ham, and then 

 makes his escape ; all of which is done with the very greatest 

 celerity. Others, again, employ a much safer, though less 

 certain method ; they fix in the ground, at considerable inter- 

 vals, very large bows upon the stretch ; these are kept steady by 

 young men remarkable for their strength, while others, exert- 

 ing themselves with equal efforts, bend them, and so wound 

 the animals as they pass by, and afterwards trace them by 

 their blood. The female elephant is much more timid by 

 nature than the male. 



CHAP. 9. (9.) THE METHOD BY WHICH THEY AliE TAMED. 



Elephants of furious temper are tamed by hunger*^ and 

 blows, while other elephants are placed near to keep them quiet, 

 when the violent fit is upon them, by means of chains. Be- 

 sides this, they are more particularly violent when in heat," 

 at which time they will level to the ground the huts of the 

 Indians with their tusks. It is on this account that they are 

 prevented from coupling, and the females are kept in herds 



^ We have the same account given by -Elian and by Strabo.— B. 



^' Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 18, remarks, that the viulence of the 

 animal, which is produced by an accidental cause, as also that arising from 

 venereal excitement, are counteracted by opposite modes of treatment ; the 

 one by depriving it of food, the other by over-feeding it ; the former, in 

 order to break its strength, and the latter, to divert it into a different 

 channel. — B. 



