92 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
it is time to stop work and eat. It makes no differ- 
ence if they have a log within a fraction of an inch 
of the platform; the boss drops his anchor chain 
and gets out of the way, and the pushers step to one 
side, letting the log crash down again. Then, with- 
out the least expression of interest, they turn for 
the stalls. Because they obey signals so mechanical- 
ly, the engineer steps out, when feeding-time comes, 
and looks up and down the runway to see if an 
elephant crew has a log on the skids. If so, he waits 
until it reaches the platform before he pulls the 
whistle-cord. 
The great weight and bulk of elephants some- 
times make difficult the problem of handling and 
especially of shipping them. They are usually 
hoisted over the side of the ship in slings, but that 
method takes much time and labor, not to speak of 
very strong tackle. I did not evolve a new one, how- 
ever, until the refusal of the captain of one of the 
British India Steam Navigation Company’s boats 
to take a consignment of elephants for. me put my 
ingenuity to the test. 
I was under contract to send fifteen large ele- 
phants to Madras, and I had arranged with the com- 
pany’s agent at Singapore for three shipments of 
five each. The animals were the remainder of the 
Trengganu herd and I was anxious to see them 
shipped, for. I was still sick with the fever. The 
doctors had told me that the best thing I could do 
was to leave the country and recuperate, and any, 
