94 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



"Captain," I replied, "I'll load those elephants 

 without using a foot of rope. I'll put them anywhere 

 you say, and you won't have to rig up a bit of gear. 

 And I'll unload them at Madras the same way. Will 

 you say the word ?" 



"I don't think you can do it," he answered, "but 

 I'm enough of a sportsman to give you a chance." 



That was all I wanted. I got out before he could 

 ask me how I was going to work, for I couldn't have 

 told him. 



The elephants were to go in the bow and they 

 had to be taken there through a seven-foot passage 

 from amidships. The smallest of the elephants meas- 

 ured fully seven feet and the largest more than 

 eight. I decided that we might as well try the larg- 

 est first, and I asked that the electric bulbs be re- 

 moved from the ceiling. 



After some coaxing and prodding, we got the 

 first elephant up the gangplank. The others fol- 

 lowed obediently. Then I asked the chief officer to 

 clear the cabins along the passage, for I was afraid 

 that some one might open a door and frighten the 

 elephant. A frightened, stampeded, eight-foot ele- 

 phant in a seven-foot passage would give Singapore 

 enough excitement to last for a year. The chief 

 officer sent the people from the cabins and locked 

 the doors. 



The elephant balked at sight of the passage. I 

 was at his head, talking to him and coaxing him, 

 and two attendants were behind, prodding. We 



