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CHAPTER I. 



AN ELEPHANT CORRAL. 



So long as the elephants of Ceylon were merely required 

 in small numbers for the pageantry of the native prin- 

 ces, or the sacred processions of the Buddhist temples, 

 their capture was effected either by the instrumentality of 

 female decoys, or by the artifices and agility of the 

 individuals and castes who devoted themselves to their 

 pursuit and training. But after the arrival of the Euro- 

 pean conquerors of the island, and when it had become 

 expedient to take advantage of the strength and intel- 

 ligence of these creatures in clearing forests and con- 

 structing roads and other works, establishments were or- 

 ganised on a great scale by the Portuguese and Dutch, 

 and the supply of elephants kept up by periodical battues 

 conducted at the cost of the Government, on a plan 

 similar to that adopted on the continent of India, when 

 herds varying in number from twenty to one hundred 

 and upwards are driven into concealed enclosures and 

 secured. 



In both these processes, success is entirely dependent 

 on the skill with which the captors turn to advantage the 



