ELEPHANT. 



661 



Elephant, brethren, he stands tranquil and quiet, appearing to for- 

 '*~~Y~~' get his sorrows, and to gather fortitude under his suf- 

 ferings ; but the instant that his companions march 

 away, finding himself closely bound, a solitary and help- 

 less prisoner, he is agitated with all the horrors of de- 

 jpair, breaks out into a roaring which makes all the fo- 

 rest tremble, and, in the fury of his extravagant grief, 

 often falls a sacrifice to the exertions which he makes 

 to regain his liberty. At this period, cocoa-nut leaves 

 mnd plantain trees are brought to him for food. In 

 the agony of distress, he tosses them contemptuously 

 away, or tramples them with indignation under his feet. 

 The cravings of hunger, however, at length induce him 

 to eat, which he does at first with evident reluctance, 

 but becomes gradually more resigned, and feeds plenti- 

 fully at the end of a few hours. 



In this manner whole herds of elephants are taken 

 captive ; but sometimes a small party of hunters endea- 

 vour to seize the males, which often sally forth from 

 the forests alone in search of richer provision. In this ob- 

 ject the hunters are frequently successful, by observing 

 the following plan, which is very perspicuously related by 

 Mr C. Scott. As the hunters know the places where the 

 elephants come out to feed, they advance towards them 

 in the evening with four trained elephants. When the 

 nights are dark , these stragglers are disco vered by the noise 

 they make in cleaning their food, by whisking and stri- 

 king it against their fore legs, and by moonlight they 

 can see them distinctly at some distance. 



As soon as they have determined upon the particular 

 elephant they mean to secure, three of the trained fe- 

 males are conducted silently and slowly by their dri- 

 vers, at a moderate distance from each other, near to 

 the place where he is feeding. These advance very 

 cautiously, feeding as they go along, and appear like 

 wild elephants that had strayed from the forest. When 

 the male perceives them approaching, if he takes the 

 alarm, and is viciously inclined, he beats the ground 

 with his trunk, and makes a noise, shewing evident 

 marks of his displeasure, and that he will not allow 

 them to approach near ; and if they persist, he will im- 

 mediately attack and gore them with his tusks ; for 

 which r-a.-on they take care to retreat in good time. 

 But should he be amorously disposed, which is gene- 

 rally the case, he allows the females to approach, and 

 sometimes even advances to meet them. 



\\ lien from these appearances the hunters judge that 

 he will become their prize, they conduct two of the fe- 

 males, one on eacli side, close to him, and make them 

 advance backwards, and press gently with their poste- 

 riors against his neck and shoulders. The third female 

 tlu-n comes up, and places herself directly across his 

 tail. In this situntion, so far from suspecting any de- 

 sign against his liberty, he begins to toy with the fe- 

 males, and cnrcs.s tlim with his trunk. When thus 

 engaged, the fourth female is brought near with ro]>es 

 and proper assistants, w ho immediately get under the 

 belly of the third female, and put a slight cord round 

 his hind li-gs. Should he move at this time it is easily 

 broken, and if he takes no notice of this slight confine- 

 ment, nor appears suspicious of what is going forward, 

 the hunters then proceed to tie his legs with a strong 

 cord, which is passed alternately, by means of a forked 

 btick and a kind of hook, from the one leg to the other, 

 as we have before described. A strong cable, with a 

 running noose sixty cubits long, is next put round each 

 hind leg immediately above the cords. These cables 

 are secured in their places by other cords tied round 

 the legs alxne them. The putting on tliese ropes ge- 



tou viii. PAHT m 



nerally takes up about twenty minute?, during which Elephant. 

 the utmost silence is observed ; and the hunters, who ^ -Y"""' 

 keep flat upon the necks of the females, are covered 

 with dark coloured cloths, which serve to keep them 

 warm, and at the same time do not attract the notice of 

 the elephant. While the people are thus busily em- 

 ployed in tying his legs, he caresses sometimes one and 

 sometimes another of the seducers, examining their 

 beauties, and toying with different parts, by which his 

 desires are excited, and his attention diverted from the 

 hunters, and in these amorous dalliances he is indulged 

 by the females. He is now generally so firmly secured 

 by the pressure of the tamed elephants on each side, and 

 by the one behind, that he can hardly turn himself, or 

 see any of the people, who always keep snug under the 

 belly of the third female that stands behind, and serve* 

 both to keep him steady, and to prevent his kicking 

 any of the people who are employed in securing him ; 

 but in general he is so much taken up with his decor - 

 er?, as to attend very little to any thing else. In c;:s<- 

 of accidents, however, should he break loose, the peo- 

 ple upon the first alarm can always mount on the back 

 of the tamed elephants, by means of a rope that hangs 

 ready for the purpose, and thus get out of his reach. 

 When his hind legs are properly secured, they leave 

 him to himself, and retire to a small distance ; but as 

 soon as the females go away he attempts to follow them, 

 but finding his legs tied, he is roused to a proper sense 

 of his situation, and retreats towards the forest. The 

 hunters now follow at a moderate distance on the fe- 

 males, accompanied by a number of people that had 

 been previously sent for, and who, as soon as the wild 

 elephant passes near a stout tree, make a few turns of 

 the long cables that are trailing behind him around its 

 trunk. His progress being thus stopt he becomes fu- 

 rious, and exerts his utmost force to disengage himself; 

 nor will he then allow any of the females to come near 

 him, but is outrageous for some time, falling down, and 

 goring the earth with his tusks. If by these exertions 

 the cables are once broken, which sometimes is effect- 

 ed, and he escapes into the forest, the hunters dare not 

 advance for fear of the other wild elephants, and are 

 therefore obliged to leave him to his fate ; and, in this 

 hampered situation, it is said he is even ungenerously 

 attacked by the other wild elephants. As the cables 

 are very strong, and seldom give way, such accidents 

 rarely occur. When he has exhausted himself by his 

 exertions, the trained elephants are again brought near, 

 and take their former positions. After getting him 

 nearer the tree, the people carry the ends of the long 

 cables round his legs, then back and about the trunk of 

 the tree, makipg if they can two or three turns, so as 

 to prevent even the possibility of his escape. For still 

 farther security, ns well as to confine him from moving 

 to either side, his fore legs are tied exactly in the same 

 manner as the hind legs were. He is now harnessed 

 with all the expedition possible in the same manner ns 

 those already described, and conducted to his proper 

 station. 



As soon as each elephant is thus secured, he is left in 

 charge to a keeper, who is appointed to attend and in- 

 struct him, and four or five inferior servant*, in order 

 to assist and supply food and water, till he becomes so 

 tractable as to bring the former himself. The first ob- 

 ject f the keeper is to gain his confidence, and, for this 

 purpose, he constantly supplies him with food, and 

 soothes and caresses him by a variety of little arts. 

 Sometimes, however, the keeper threatens, nnd even . 

 goad- him with a long stick pointed with iron, but more 

 ft! 



