CUASE OF THE ELEPHANT. 409 



on foot; indispensable qualities, partly inherited and partly 

 acquired by practice. Completely naked to render their move- 

 ments more easy, and to prevent their being laid hold of by 

 the bushes, two of these bold huntsmen get on horseback ; one 

 of them bestrides the back of the steed, a short stick in one 

 hand, the reins in the other, while behind him sits his com- 

 panion, armed with a sharp broadsword. As soon as they 

 perceive a grazing elephant, they instantly ride up to him, or 

 cross him in all directions if he flies, uttering at the same 

 time a torrent of abuse, for the purpose, as they fancy, of 

 raising his anger. With outstretched trunk the elephant at- 

 tempts to seize the noisy intruders, and following the perfectly 

 trained horse, which, springing from side to side, leads him 

 along in vain pursuit, neglects flight into the woods, his sole 

 chance of safety ; for while his whole attention is fixed on the 

 rapid movements of the horse, the swordsman, who has sprung 

 unperceived from its back, approaches stealthily from behind, 

 and, with one stroke of his weapon, severs the tendon just above 

 the heel. The disabled monster falls shrieking to the ground, 

 and incapable of advancing a step, is soon despatched. The 

 whole flesh is then cut off his bones into thongs, and hung 

 upon the branches of trees till perfectly dry, when it is taken 

 down and laid by for the rainy season. 



African ivory is a not unimportant article of trade. The 

 annual importation into Great Britain alone, for the last few 

 years, has been about 11,000 cwts., which, taking the average 

 weight of a tusk at thirty pounds, would imply an annual 

 slaughter of about 20,000 elephants, doomed to destruction in 

 order to provide us with umbrella, stick, or knife-handles, card- 

 marks, fancy boxes, or buttons. 



The Asiatic elephant inhabits Hindostan, the ultra-Gangetic 

 peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and Ceylon. In the latter island 

 especially, he was formerly found in incredible numbers, so that 

 thirty years ago, an English sportsman killed no less than 104 

 elephants in three days. 



A reward of a few shillings per head offered by the Govern- 

 ment for taking elephants was claimed for 3,500 destroyed in 

 part of the northern provinces alone, in less than three years 

 prior to 1848, and between 1851 and 1856 a similar reward 

 was paid for 2,000 in the southern provinces. In conseciuence 



