Chap. IV.] .\N ELEPHANT CORRAL. 341 



creature to walk on board, and no mechanical contri- 

 vances being provided to ship him. A dlioney, or native 

 boat, of about forty tons burthen, is brought alongside 

 the quay in front of the Old Dutch Fort, and being 

 about tliree parts filled with the strong ril^bed leaves 

 of the Palmyra pahn, it is lashed so that the gunwale 

 may be as nearly as possible on a hue mth the level of 

 the wharf. The elephant being placed with his back 

 to the water is forced by goads to retreat till his hind 

 legs go over the side of the quay, but the main contest 

 commences when it is attempted to disengage his fore 

 feet from the shore, and force him to entrust liimself on 

 board. The scene becomes exciting from the screams 

 and trumpeting of the elephants, the shouts of the Arabs, 

 the calls of the Moors, and the rushing of the crowd. 

 Meanwhile the huge creatiu^e strains every nerve to 

 regain the land ; and the day is often consumed before 

 his efforts are overcome, and he finds himself faMy 

 afloat. The same dhoney wdll take from four to five 

 elephants, who place themselves athwart it, and exhibit 

 amusino; adroitness in accommodatincf their own move- 

 ments to the rolling of the httle vessel ; and in this way 

 they are ferried across the narrow strait which separates 

 the continent of India from Ceylon.^ 



But the feat of ensnarino; and subduinor a sino-le 

 elephant, courageous as it is, and demonstrative of the 

 supremacy with which man melds his " dominion over 



^ In the Philosophical Transactions 

 ft)r 1701, there is " An Account of the 

 taking of Elephants in Ceylon, by 

 JNIr. Strachax, a Physician who lived 

 seventeen years there," in wliicli the 

 author descrihes the manner in which 

 they were shipped by the Dutch, at 

 Matura, Galle, and Negi)nibo. A 

 piece of strong sail-cloth having been 

 WTapped round the elephant's chest 

 and stomachy he wa.s forced into the 

 sea between two tame ones, and there 

 made fast to a boat, on which the 

 tame ones returned to laud ; he swam | lOol 



z 3 



after the boat to the ship, where 

 tackle was reeved to the sail-clotli, 

 and he was hoisted on board. 



"But a better way ha*) been in- 

 vented lately," he saysj "a large 

 flat-bottomed vessel is prepared, 

 covered with planks like a floor ; so 

 that this floor is iilmost of a height 

 Avitli the key. Then the sides of the 

 key and the vessel are adonied with 

 greeu branches, so that tlie elephant 

 sees no water, till he is in the ship." 



Phil. Trans, vol. xxiii. No. 22~, p. 



