56 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP 



imagined that lie was being hunted by the carcase which so per- 

 sistently followed him wherever lie went. There was no danger 

 to the driver, as the elephant was kept away from the forest. 

 The ground became exceedingly rough and full of holes from the 

 soakage during the rainy season. This peculiar soil is much dis- 

 liked by elephants, as the surface is most treacherous, and 

 cavernous hollows caused by subterranean water action render it 

 unsafe for the support of such heavy animals. The resistance of 

 the dead ox, which constantly jammed in the abrupt depressions, 

 began to tell upon the speed, and in a short time the elephant was 

 headed, and surrounded by a mob of villagers. I was determined 

 that he should now be compelled to drag the carcase quietly in 

 order to accustom him to the burden ; we therefore attached the 

 coupling chains to his fore legs, and drove him gently, turning him 

 occasionally to enable him to inspect the carcase that had smitten 

 him with panic. In about twenty minutes he became callous, and 

 regarded the dead body with indifference. 



Although an elephant is capable of great speed, it cannot jump, 

 neither can it lift all four legs off the ground at the same time ; 

 this peculiarity renders it impossible to cross any ditch with hard 

 perpendicular sides that will not crumble or yield to pressure, if 

 such a ditch should be wider than the limit of the animal's 

 extreme pace. If the limit of a pace should be 6 feet, a 7-foot 

 ditch would effectually stop an elephant. 



Although the strength of an elephant is prodigious whenever 

 it is fully exerted, it is seldom that the animal can be induced to 

 exhibit the maximum force which it possesses. A rush of a herd 

 of elephants with a determined will against the enclosure of 

 palisades used for their capture would probably break through the 

 barrier, but they do not appear to know their strength, or to act 

 together. This want of cohesion is a sufficient proof that in a 

 wild state they are not so sagacious as they have been considered. 

 I do not describe the kraal or keddah, which is so well known by 

 frequent descriptions as the most ancient and practical method of 

 capturing wild elephants ; but although in Ceylon the kraal has 

 been used from time immemorial, the Singhalese are certainly 

 behind the age as compared with the great keddah establishments 

 of India In the latter country there is a ditch inside the 

 palisaded enclosure, which prevents the elephants from exerting 

 their force against the structure ; in Ceylon this precaution is ne- 

 glected, and the elephants have frequently effected a breach in the 

 palisade. In Ceylon all the old elephants capture! within the 

 kraal or keddah are considered worthless, and only those of 



