THE ELEPHANT. 66/ 



But the work is not complete. It is necessary to secure the wild 

 creatures more securely. Two tame elephants are now placed on active 

 service. Walking slowly up to the nearest of the captured animals, 

 they begin to urge him toward the tree to which he was fastened. At 

 first the creature is stubborn ; but a few taps on his great skull, and a 

 mighty push on his carcass, send him a yard or two nearer his destina- 

 tion. As he proceeds, the man in charge of the rope gathers in the slack 

 of it ; and so matters go on between this party — a tap, a push, and a pull 

 — until at length the three elephants are close to the trees. Two other 

 villagers then come forward with a stout iron chain. The tame animals 

 place themselves one on each side of their prisoner, pressing him be- 

 tween them so tightly as to prevent the possibility of his moving. In a 

 minute or two the great chain is passed several times round the hind legs 

 and the tree ; and in this way the captive is left, helpless, and faint with 

 struggling against his bonds. 



The process of taming is soon accomplished. At the end of two or 

 three months, the wild and unruly destroying monster of the jungle 

 might be seen quietly and submissively piling logs of ebony in the 

 government timber-yards, with a purpose-like intelligence little short of 

 that of man. 



A traveler writes : " These huge animals were generally employed 

 in the commissariat timber-yard, or the civil engineer's department, 

 either in removing and stowing logs and planks, or in rolling about 

 heavy masses of stone for building purposes. I could not but admire 

 the precision with which they performed their allotted task, unaided 

 save by their own sagacity. They were one morning hard at work, 

 though slowly, piling up a quantity of heavy pieces of ebony ; the lower 

 row of the pile had been already laid down, with mathematical precision, 

 six logs side by side. These they had first rolled in from the adjoining 

 wharf; and, when I rode up, they were engaged in bringing forward the 

 next six for the second row in the pile. It was curious to observe those 

 uncouth animals seize one of the heavy logs at each end ; and, by means 

 of their trunks, lift it up on the logs already placed, and then arrange it 

 crosswise upon them with the most perfect skill. I waited while they 

 thus placed the third row ; feeling a curiosity to know how they would 

 proceed when the timber had to be lifted to greater height. Some of 

 the logs weighed nearly twenty hundred-weight. There was a short 

 pause before the fourth row was touched ; but the difficulty was no 



