24 THE KING'S MAHOUT 



a most undependable beast. Hence everything 

 is done quietly, with no sudden movements to 

 startle the elephants, or any unnecessary direct- 

 ness of approach. The entire effort of gathering 

 scattered herds is furtive as much as the circum- 

 stances will allow. Once the elephants have been 

 got together into one herd, the line of scouts may 

 become a circle with a human post and a lurid 

 brush fire alternating every ten yards around its 

 length ; or it may simply herd the beasts according 

 to their temper. But no noise is made except in 

 cases where elephants move too closely to the 

 limits of the enclosure; elephants have broken 

 through and escaped, but rarely. 



Choo's fitness for the post of head mahout was 

 evident from the day of leaving the home camp 

 back on the little river; but only when the drive of 

 the consolidated herd toward Ayuthia began, did 

 his consummate skill manifest itself. His hand- 

 ling not only of his own elephant, but his execu- 

 tive ability in placing the other elephants, and the 

 beaters, made perfectly easy of comprehension 

 why he had advanced so rapidly among his fellows. 

 Although he was kind to his elephants, Choo never 

 showed them the slightest affection ; holding them 

 under the strictest discipline and exacting instant 

 obedience under penalty of severe punishment. A 

 trainer of reputation with whom in my boyhood 



