LEADING ARTICLES. 



6ii 



one side of the inclosure is a gate, with a 

 V-^haped approach leading to it. When the 

 stockade has been complei/ed. the A-ilhigers 

 arm themselves with guns, spears, tom-toms, 

 old pots, horns — anything that will make a 

 noise— and pour into the jungle to beat up 

 the wild herds. They spread out in a circle, 

 sometimes twenty-five miles long, but gradu- 

 ally lessening as the herds are driven nearer 

 the stockade. The main object is to keep tli(> 

 elephants from reaching water except by en- 

 tering the inclosure, and sometimes tliis is 

 very difficult. Fires are kept alight at dis- 

 tances of a few feet; and sometimes at night, 

 when the huge beasts charge in a body, the 

 din of the drums, bells, shouts, and horns is 

 enough to daunt bolder spirits than the. 

 jungle denizens. Frequently a herd succeeds 

 in breaking through and making its escape, 

 occasionally not without a heavy loss to the 

 enemy; but usually after being kept from 

 water for three or four days their terrible 

 thir.st drives the poor creatures to the water 

 within the stockade, and the gate closes for 

 ever between them and the dear free life of 

 their native jungle. 



THE STOCKADE. 

 The natixes, says Mr. Moser, are 

 Buddhists, but their real god is the 

 snowy-bearded old Rate Mahatmeya, 

 who is also their father, lord of their 

 lands, and of every grain of rice that 

 goes into their mouths. He said this 

 was the 14th kraal he had had, and that 

 2500 villagers had been out for many 

 days. He hoped to catch 30 or 40 ele- 

 phants, but some might escape through 

 the line of beaters that night, as the 

 elephants \\ere desperate, and the men 

 nearh^ exhausted. 



The stockade itself was worth a fortune, 

 could it have been brought to market. It 

 was constructed of peeled ebony and satin- 

 wood logs, many from twenty to thirty feet 

 long, and as thick as a man's body. Seven 

 hundred and fifty cixilies had spent three 

 weeks in building it, sinking the upright logs 

 ten feet into the earth with rattan thongs 

 lashing to the horizontal logs, at three- 

 foot iiaten^als. It looked enormously strong 

 and resistant. 



.\N ELEPHANT'S CHARCiE. 

 Ten elephants, led by a furious c)ld 

 cow, were trapped, but during the night 

 those outside the kraal broke through 

 the beaters' line and escaped. The cap- 

 tured elephants charged the stockacie 

 furiously, rocking the piles in their 

 sockets, and making the earth tremble. 

 Spearmen and beaters drove them back 

 with spear thrusts. 



I had often heard of the sixhmI of an 

 elephant's charge, and had Tiiarvelled witli- 

 out enlightenment. 1 had even ,'<coffed, be- 



cause those who told of it never were able 

 to explain it. Their descriptions seemed to 

 me the result of "• nerves," justifying effect 

 by cause. Now that I have seen it for my.self, 

 I marvel no more, but am simply dazed. 

 You cannot <'xplaiii the charge becau.se you 

 do not really see him make it. One instant 

 he is standing over there, a hundred yards 

 away, as motionless as the tree-trunks; at 

 the end of the same instant he is upon you, 

 overwhelming, monstrous, like a mountain 

 falling upon ym\. .\nd you did not even see 

 him start ! 



I have a theory about it. An elephant's 

 loose skin is a sort of bag that conceals the 

 mo.st flexible and finely articulated set of 

 muscles in the animal kingdom. He has no 

 bulge of muscles anywhere. They are all as 

 smooth and flat as ribbons, as elastic £is rub- 

 ber, tempere<l like steel wire!-' Wherefore 

 he can wheel that vast bulk of his instantly 

 and in a space the size of a tea-table. He 

 can hurl the whole four or five tons of him 

 into action with a single impulse and strike 

 his top speed in a single stride. Place an 

 enemy in front of him, and I believe he can 

 run ten yards or two hundred from a stand- 

 ing start faster than any other creature on 

 legs. 



THE WORK OF THE DECOYS. 

 Seven gigantic beasts, absolutel)' 

 under the control of their riders — al- 

 though the\- had all been wild ten years 

 before — entered the kraal as decoys. 



Suddenly we heard the sharp crackle of 

 voices^— Kalawane's and the mahouts' — 

 shouting, "Yiiiiiid! Yunfia! Yunga!" 

 ("Charge! C'iiai-ge! Charge!'") and saw 

 tile decoys swiftly looming through the under- 

 brush. The wild ones saw them at the same 

 time, and for just a moment the whole herd, 

 trunks uplifted in welcome, swung forward 

 to me(>t them. The next instant they realised 

 their mistake, ttirned tail, and went crasiiing 

 down the slo])e in a panic. After them came 

 the whole band of decoys, spearmen, and 

 noosers barking a staccato chorus that set 

 the blood tingling all over me. I never have 

 had such a tt^eling. It was a little like the 

 fiist shock of a shower-bath on a fro.sty morn- 

 ing. I fouiul my.self jilunging knet^deep 

 through tlu^ stream in the wake of the rvish- 

 ing animals, with Ricalton. sixty-six years 

 old, and as white as Mount Hood, not a foot 

 behind me. 



THE FIRST CAPTURE. 

 The decoys speedily overlook their 

 ciuarr\-, and two of them quickly separ- 

 ated one of the yearlings from his 

 mother, gi\'ing 



■ Fust time enough for a noser to drop oif 

 beliind and slip tlie kxip around his rjght 

 liind l(>g. Il(> suddenly found himself being 

 dragged Iiackward on his fore legs and belly, 

 and such s(|Ua!ling ne\<'r was heard. At 

 first liis frantic motlu'r fought furiously to 

 reacii liim, but. two powerful bulls .so vuicere- 

 moniously butted her about that she gave up 

 and rushed o(T for help; for I never will be- 



