130 



HISTORY OF THE ELEPHANT. 



first enclosure, and finding no chance of escaping loin 

 through the gateway into the next enclosure, the le;i 

 enters and the rest follow ; the gate is instantly shut }>\ 

 people who are stationed on a small scaffold immediately 

 above it and strongly barricaded, fires are lighted, and tV- 

 same discordant din made and continued till the herd 

 passed through another gateway into the last enclosim . 

 the gate of which is secured in the same manner as th<- 

 former was. The elephants being now completely sur- 

 rounded on all sides, and perceiving no outlet through 

 which they can escape, appear desperate, and in then 

 fury advance frequently to the ditch, in order to br 

 down the palisade, inflating their trunks, screaming louder 

 and shriller than any trumpet, sometimes grumbling like 

 the hollow murmur of distant thunder ; but wherever they 

 make an attack, they are opposed by lighted fires, and by 

 the noise and triumphant shouts of the hunters. A 

 finding themselves hemmed in upon all sides, their fury 

 begins to subside, and they are taken and secured one by 

 one, and gradually subdued and brought into the service 

 of man. 



It will readily be understood, that in order to repay all 

 the labor and compensate all the risk with which their 

 capture is attended, elephants, when taken and trained to 

 docility, must be of great value ; and perhaps we cannot 

 give a more correct estimate, whereby the value of an ele- 

 phnnt may be compared with that of other animals em- 

 ployed in draft or carriage, than by stating that a male 

 elephant, full grown, of the largest size, and in the best 

 health and condition, can carry about four tons weight, 

 and travel with it fifty miles in the course of twenty-four 

 hours ; and, that if properly used, he may perhaps retain 

 this power for a century or even more ; so that he who 

 purchases a good elephant, may be said to purchase an 

 estate for his grandchild. Carrying is not the only useful 

 purpose to which those powerful animals can be applied : 



