Appendix 297 



fought by his side, the ally, the friend, the servant, and the 

 protector of man. The elephant is the true king of animals. 

 Compare this noble animal with the useless lion, that 

 nocturnal prowler at the mercy of a pack of wolves. 



Elsewhere, in speaking of colonisation, I deal with the 

 domestication of the elephant as applied to the economic 

 development of African colonies. I will briefly state here 

 what I think of the subject from the point of view of 

 material difficulties. 



Those who think it possible to capture the elephant 

 amid present circumstances that is, when war to the bitter 

 end is being made upon it on all sides are very much 

 mistaken. Never ivill its domestication lie possible so long as 

 hunting it is not forbidden. Even several years will be 

 needed before it resumes its confidence and habits. One will 

 then be able to watch, follow, and capture a herd, because it 

 will remain in a well-defined region, and will have resumed 

 its natural inclination to remain in a large country which 

 offers it, according to the seasons, grass, water, swamps, trees, 

 and shelters of which it is fond. At the present time a 

 herd is here to-day, will be fifty miles away to-morrow, and 

 the day afterwards will be somewhere else. Probably you 

 will never see it again. You will meet other herds which 

 will appear and disappear in their turn, owing to the need 

 of moving about, which is engendered by disquietude, a 

 sense of insecurity, the noise of firearms, and the scent 

 of men who prowl about in their vicinity. Need of food 

 has made the elephant a nomadic animal; fear makes it 

 unseizable. 



Although their intentions may be the best in the world, 

 those who think to capture elephants under these conditions 

 are labouring under a great mistake. They may capture 

 one amid special circumstances ; but what is one elephant ? 

 If they want to create establishments like those in India, and 

 to try to remedy in a notable way the lack of means of 

 transport, elephants must be captured by hundreds. How 



