CHAPTER VII 



ELEPHANTS 



I DO not propose to write a history or description of the 

 Ceylon elephant, and "must refer those who wish for details 

 to Sir Emerson Tennent's " Natural History of Ceylon." 

 The elephants have been a prominent feature in this 

 island for ages, and at the time of the English occupation 

 existed in great numbers all over the country. Major 

 Forbes in his " Eleven Years in Ceylon," between 1820 

 and 1830, speaks of elephants being met with 25 miles 

 from Colombo, and relates that when he was Military 

 Commandant at Matale he also superintended elephant 

 catching operations, and was able to visit no less than five 

 kraals in a morning from his bungalow ! It would be a 

 difficult job nowadays to find an elephant within 20 miles 

 of Matale. After 1831 the destruction of elephants was 

 encouraged owing to their depredations and numbers, and 

 Major Forbes mentions the killing of 106 elephants in 

 1837 by a party of four Europeans in three days, and 

 the slaying of no less than 9 in one morning by a gentle- 

 man who was at the time Government Agent at Kurune- 

 gala. Coming to later times, in the 'forties Major 

 Rogers is credited with having slain upwards of 1400; 

 Captain Gallwey over 700 ; and Major Skinner, " the 

 roadmaker," almost as many. 



Sir Emerson Tennent relates that in the 'forties and 

 the 'fifties rewards were paid for the destruction of no 

 less than 5500 elephants ! I do not know when the policy 



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