94 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
“Captain,” I replied, “I'll load those elephants 
without using a foot of rope. I’ll put them anywhere 
you say, and you won’t have to rig up a bit of gear. 
And I’ll unload them at Madras the same way. Will 
you say the word?” 
“T don’t think you can do it,” he answered, “but 
I’m enough of a sportsman to give you a chance.” 
That was all I wanted. I got out before he could 
ask me how I was going to work, for I couldn’t have 
told him. 
The elephants were to go in the bow and they 
had to be taken there through a seven-foot passage 
from amidships. The smallest of the elephants meas- 
ured fully seven feet and the largest more than 
eight. I decided that we might as well try the larg- 
est first, and I asked that the electric bulbs be re- 
moved from the ceiling. 
After some coaxing and prodding, we got the 
first elephant up the gangplank. The others fol- 
lowed obediently. Then I asked the chief officer to 
clear the cabins along the passage, for I was afsaid 
that some one might open a door and frighten the 
elephant. <A frightened, stampeded, eight-foot ele- 
phant in a seven-foot passage would give Singapore 
enough excitement to last for a year. The chief 
officer sent the people from the cabins and locked 
the doors. 
The elephant balked at sight of the passage. I 
was at his head, talking to him and coaxing him, 
and two attendants were behind, prodding. We 
