374 THE ELEPHAKT. [Part VIII. 



the former drove, the new herd seemed to take no 

 friendly notice of them ; they hahed inquuingly for a 

 minute, and then resumed then- career round the corral, 

 and once or twice in theu* headlong flight they rushed 

 madly over the bodies of the prostrate captives as they 

 lay in their misery on the ground. 



It was evening before the new captives grew wearied 

 with furious and repeated charges, and stood still in the 

 centre of the corral coUected into one terrified and 

 motionless group. The fires were then rehghted, the 

 guard redoubled by the addition of the Avatchers, who 

 were now reheved from duty m the forest, and the 

 spectators retu'ed for the night. 



The business of the third day began by noosing and 

 tying up the new captives, and the first sought out 

 was their magnificent leader. Siribeclch, and the tame 

 tusker having forced themselves on either side of her, 

 a boy in the service of the Eate-Mahat-meya succeeded 

 in attaching the rope to her hind foot. Siribeddi 

 moved off, but feehng her strength insufiicient to di'ag 

 the reluctant prize, she went down on her fore-knees, 

 so as to add the full weight of her body to the pull. 

 The tusker, seeing her difficulty, placed himself in front 

 of the prisoner, and forced her backwards, step by 

 step, till his companion brought her fafrly up to the 

 tree, and wound tlie rope round the stem. Though 

 overpowered by fear, she showed the fullest sense of 

 the nature of the danger she had to apprehend. She 

 kept her head turned towards the noosers, and tried 

 to step in advance of the decoys, and in spite of 

 all their efforts, she tore off the first noose from her 

 fore-leg, and placing it under her foot, snapped it into 

 fathom lengths. When finally seciu'cd, her writhings 

 were extraordinary. She doubled in her head under 

 her chest, till she lay as round as a hedge-liog, and 

 rising again, stood on her fore-feet, and hfting her hind- 

 feet off the groinid, she wrung them from side to side, till 

 the great tree abow her quivered in every branch. 



