666 PROBOSCIDEA. 



is beguiled by a couple of tame females who caress him with their 

 trunks while the men who had accompanied them are passing- cords 

 around his limbs. A well-trained elephant is of very great value in the 

 Southeastern regions of Asia. Its strength is about five times that of 

 the camel. In its wild state, the Indian Elephant is believed to attain to 

 the age of two hundred years ; but it rarely is so long-lived in a state of 

 captivity. In war they are employed for carrying the sick, and camp 

 equipage. The English in India harness them in their artillery trains. 

 Moreover, the proprietors of large cultivated plains, in certain parts of 

 India, have succeeded in making them draw plows. Never did a more 

 monstrous beast of draught turn up the earth with a plowshare. A 

 plowing elephant does the work of thirty oxen. 



Without the presence of numerous elephants to grace it, no public 

 fete in most parts of India is considered complete. It always figures in 

 the suite of princes, and state processions. 



It is especially useful for carrying sportsmen on its back in tiger 

 hunting, and, if need be, for defending them against it, when this terrible 

 animal turns to bay. The elephants which are used by the English 

 army are usually captured by government officials in the island of Cey- 

 lon, where they are very numerous. The hunts are on a large scale, as 

 well to rid the neighborhood of such dangerous visitors, as for supplying 

 themselves with such docile workers. A large open space in the jungle 

 is fenced round with strong bamboos, and a narrow entrance at one end 

 is left open. Into this kraal or corral a large party of men drive the 

 herd of wild elephants which are led by tame decoy elephants into the 

 roads leading to the enclosure. When the herd is safely inside, the exit 

 is barred, and the imprisoned animals make furious attempts to escape, 

 charging the fence with desperate determination. When they are 

 wearied out with their fruitless efforts, the best of the herd are selected 

 for taming. Men, lasso in hand, creep quickly into the kraal. Each of 

 them selects one of the largest and strongest of the group, and, having 

 arranged the "lasso " for action, they apply a finger gently to the right 

 heel of their beast, who, feeling the touch as though that of some insect, 

 slowly raises the leg. The men, as the legs are lifted, place the running 

 nooses beneath them, so that the elephants are quietly trapped, unknown 

 to themselves, and with the utmost ease. The men now steal rapidly 

 away with the ends of the ropes, and immediately make them fast to 

 the ends of the nearest trees. 



