228 ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS. 



lie join them, they lavish their caresses upon him ; and 

 while he is returning their blandishments, the hunters 

 creep softly to his feet, and having tied them together, 

 fasten him to a tree or let him go loose, with merely 

 the shackles round all his legs. Of course he is in a 

 dreadful rage, especially when the females desert him. 

 But hunger, thirst, and ineffectual struggles at last 

 subdue him. He is led away, and generally trained ; 

 but if his violent efforts should effect his liberation, he 

 plunges into the forest, whither the hunters prudently 

 do not again go to effect his capture. Some female 

 elephants arc also used to decoy wild males into en- 

 closures, where they are secured ; and there is a whole- 

 sale method of surrounding a herd by a number of 

 men, who, by means of various noises, musketry, fire- 

 works, drums, and trumpets, drive the elephants into 

 pens constructed for the purpose, and supplied with 

 water, where the poor creatures are made to stay some 

 time. The elephants become very furious ; and as the 

 strongest enclosures might give way to their over- 

 powering strength, sentinels are placed all round, who 

 light fire?, and make all the noises which the prisoners 

 most dread, till they again become quiet. 



Elephants, after being domesticated for years, will 

 return to the forests and resume their wild habits, but 

 they never forget their education. Their former keepers 

 have recognised them among their untamed companions, 

 called them, and without hesitation they have walked 

 from the midst of their brethren, and quietly returned 

 to their former habits after a lapse of ten years. All 

 are extremely sensible to the praises and caresses of 

 those who attend to them, for whose sake they will 

 make the most wonderful exertions. They are useful 



