26 THE KING'S MAHOUT 



ear. Always Choo wore an amulet of jade and 

 now that he had doffed his yellow silk jacket and, 

 like the others, wore a cotton panung, with bare 

 upper body, I noticed that he also kept around his 

 neck a tiny human image of a kind I had seen 

 Buddhist priests making of tree roots and selling 

 to ease native superstition. 



Choo's plan of driving the herd was masterful; 

 there was no confusion, nor any sign to indicate 

 that the task was difficult. Perhaps a half mile 

 area was occupied by the gathered elephants when 

 the final drive began, and it was not possible from 

 one side of the herd to see the other side of the 

 jungle. Choo placed four of his largest tame 

 tuskers, two at each opening, as extreme western 

 outposts of the driving line, and somewhat closer 

 to the herd. The remaining tuskers were divided 

 among the north and south sides and the rear, with 

 more of them at the sides than in the rear, where 

 were the most beaters. So far as I could see, the 

 only apparent anxious movement was in getting 

 the herd started, and that was finally accomplished 

 by half a dozen tame elephants taking positions at 

 the head of the lot. In fact, Choo kept several of 

 these at the head of the herd throughout the drive 

 to the river. Sometimes the elephants would 

 move steadily as though really travelling with 

 an objective in view; again they fed along leis- 



