HI THE ELEPHANT 59 



he would immediately give due notice to the neighbourhood, and 

 in a short time the whole population would assemble for the hunt. 

 This would be arranged by forming a circle of perhaps two miles in 

 diameter, and simultaneously firing the grass so as to create a ring 

 of flames around the centre. An elephant is naturally afraid of fire, 

 and it has an instinctive horror of the crackling of flames when the 

 grass has been ignited. As the circle of fire contracts in approach- 

 ing the encirled herd, they at first attempt retreat until they become 

 assured of their hopeless position ; they at length become desperate, 

 being maddened by fear, and panic-stricken by the wild shouts of 

 the thousands who have surrounded them. At length, half- 

 suffocated by the dense smoke, and terrified by the close approach 

 of the roaring flames, the unfortunate animals charge recklessly 

 through the fire, burnt and blinded, to be ruthlessly speared by 

 the bloodthirsty crowd awaiting this last stampede. Sometimes a 

 hundred or more elephants are simultaneously destroyed in this 

 wholesale slaughter. The flesh is then cut into long strips and 

 dried, every portion of the animal being smoked upon frames of 

 green wood, and the harvest of meat is divided among the villages 

 which have contributed to the hunt. The tusks are also shared, 

 a certain portion belonging by right to the various headmen and 

 the chief. 



When man determines to commence war with the animal king- 

 dom the result must be disastrous to the beasts, if the human 

 destroyers are in sufficient numbers to ensure success. Although 

 firearms may not be employed, the human intelligence must always 

 overpower the brute creation, but man must exist in numerical 

 superiority if the wild beasts are to be fairly vanquished by a 

 forced retreat from the locality. From my own observation I have 

 concluded that wild animals of all kinds Avill withstand the dangers 

 of traps, pitfalls, fire, and the usual methods for their destruction 

 employed by savages, but they will be rapidly cleared out of an 

 extensive district by the use of firearms. There is a peculiar effect 

 in the report of guns which appears to excite the apprehension of 

 danger in the minds of all animals. This is an extraordinary 

 instance of the general intelligence of wild creatures, as they must 

 be accustomed to the reports of thunder since the day of their birth. 

 Nevertheless they draw a special distinction between the loud peal 

 of thunder and the comparatively innocent explosion of a firearm. 



Many years ago in Ceylon I devoted particular attention to this 

 subject, especially as it affects the character of elephants. Ho\v 

 those creatures manage to communicate with each other it is im- 

 possible to determine, but the fact remains that a very few days' 



