TAMING OF THE ELEPHANT 461 



the ground, partially concealed by roots and leaves, beneath a 

 tree on which one of the party is stationed, whose business it is 

 to lift it suddenly by means of a cord, raising it on the elephant's 

 leg at the moment when his companion has succeeded in pro- 

 voking him to place his foot within the circle, the other end 

 having been previously made fast to the stem of the tree. Should 

 the noosing be effected in open ground, and no tree of sufficient 

 strength at hand round which to wind the rope, one of the 

 Moors, allowing himself to be pursued by the enraged elephant, 

 entices him towards the nearest grove, when his companion, 

 dexterously laying hold of the rope as it trails along the ground, 

 suddenly coils it round a suitable stem, and brings the fugitive 

 to a stand still. On finding himself thus arrested, the natural 

 impulse of the captive is to turn on the man who is engaged in 

 making fast the rope, a movement which it is the duty of his 

 colleague to prevent by running up close to the elephant's head, 

 and provoking him to confront him by irritating gesticulations 

 and incessant shouts of dah! dah! a monosyllable, the sound 

 of which the elephant peculiarly dislikes. Meanwhile the first 

 assailant having secured one noose, comes up from behind with 

 another, with which, amidst the vain rage and struggles of the 

 victim, he entraps a fore-leg, the rope being as before secured 

 to another tree in front, and the whole four feet having been 

 thus entangled, the capture is completed. 



" A shelter is then run up with branches to protect him from 

 the sun, and the hunters proceed to build a wigwam for themselves 

 in front of their prisoner, kindling their fires for cooking, and 

 making all the necessary arrangements for remaining day and 

 night on the spot, to await the process of subduing and taming 



\ his rage. 



" Picketed to the ground like Grulliver by the Lilliputians, the 

 elephant soon ceases to struggle, and what with the exhaustion of 

 ineffectual resistance, the constant annoyance of smoke, and the 



I liberal supply of food and water with which he is indulged, a 

 few weeks generally suffice to subdue his spirit, when his keepers 

 at length venture to remove him to their own village, or to the 

 seaside for shipment to India. 



" No part of the hunter's performances exhibits greater skill 

 and audacity than this first forced march of the recently captured 

 eleiDhant. As he is still too morose to submit to be ridden. 



