THE KING'S MAHOUT 15 



the young bamboo are good eating, while the tree 

 in its different sizes and conditions of growth pro- 

 vides a valuable article of export, the timber for 

 house making, the fibre for mats and baskets and 

 personal ornaments, while, in hollowed sections, 

 it is made into buckets and water pipes. 



Another day's travel on the smaller river 

 brought us to the encampment of the elephant 

 catchers. Here were about one hundred men, 

 bared to the waist, and a score of tuskers; the 

 former divided among a small colony of elevated 

 bamboo houses, and the latter scattered at graze 

 in the surrounding jungle, wearing rattan hobbles 

 around their feet, and bells of hollow bamboo at 

 their necks. This was the home camp, where 

 preparations had been making in leisurely and 

 truly Oriental fashion for the start toward the 

 interior ; but on the evening of our arrival a mod- 

 erate state of excitement resulted from a native 

 bringing in the report, which he had got third 

 liand, of a large white elephant seen in the jungle. 



The day was in Siam when the lucky man who 

 discovered a white elephant was raised to the rank 

 of nobility, and in case of its capture, very likely 

 was given one of the king's gross of daughters in 

 marriage. In the old days the catching of such 

 an elephant was a signal for general holiday- 

 making and feasting; nobles were sent to the jun- 



