THE ELEPHANT AT HOME 251 



manage to get the nooses of their tough raw- 

 hide ropes round the legs of the captives. The 

 ropes are then made fast to trees, and the poor 

 beasts are helpless. In a wonderfully short time 

 they accept the situation, and, escorted by the 

 tame ones, are taken to the coast for shipment. 



Another and more sporting method of elephant 

 catching was carried on by the so-called Moor- 

 men, a brave and energetic Mohammedan race 

 who are said to be of Arab descent. These 

 men on foot used to capture elephants, without 

 the help of tame ones. Provided with long 

 elastic ropes of raw hide of great strength, 

 they stalked the herd until they got close to 

 their intended victim, preferably a half-grown 

 animal. Sometimes they would succeed in 

 getting a noose round a hind-leg before the 

 beast was aware of their presence ; failing this 

 they surrounded and teased it into charging 

 some of their number. Then the others seized 

 the opportunity of rushing in and affixing the 

 noose. The free end of the rope was then 

 secured to a tree of not too large diameter, 

 which yielded somewhat to the violent struggles 

 of the elephant. So, one by one, every limb was 

 secured, the trunk itself was bound, and the 

 elephant rendered helpless. 



