HUNTING-NETS. 87 



chief amusements of their principal men, and the variety of 

 game driven into the toils is really surprising, and affords a 

 magnificent sight to those who view it for the first time. 

 Even the tiger himself cannot leap over the nets because they 

 are so high, nor force his way through them, because their folds 

 hang so lightly that they offer no resistance to his efforts. 



A very simple net on similar principles is used for catching 

 elephants. It is formed of the long creeping plants that 

 fling themselves in tangled masses from tree to tree. These 

 creepers are carefully twisted into a net-like form, without 

 being removed from the trees, and when a sufficient space has 

 been enclosed the elephants are driven into it. Not even their 

 gigantic strength and tons of weight are capable of breaking 

 through a barrier which, apparently slight, is as strong as if it 

 were built of the tree-trunks on which the creepers are hung. 



This net is seldom used for military purposes, though I 

 have seen one, which I believe still exists, and would do good 

 service. In one of our largest fortresses there is a subterra- 

 nean corridor, through which it is desirous that the enemy 

 should not penetrate. One mode of defence consists of a large 

 net made of steel hanging loosely across it. The meshes are 

 about ten inches square, so that the defenders can fire from 

 their loopholes through the meshes, while the assailants, even 

 if they knew of its position, would find that nothing smaller 

 than a field-gun would have any effect on this formidable net. 



The natural analogy of the fixed net is evidently the web of 

 the common Garden Spider, or Cross Spider (Epeira diadema), 

 whose beautiful nets we all must have admired, especially when 

 we are wise enough to get up sufficiently early in the morning 

 to see the webs with the dewdrops glittering on them. 



Last year there was a wonderful sight. Within a mile of 

 my house there is a long iron fence, which in one night had 

 been covered with the webs of the garden spider. The fol- 

 lowing morning, though bright, was chilly, so that the dew- 

 drops were untouched. I happened to pass by the fence soon 

 after sunrise, and was greatly struck with the astonishing 

 effects which could be produced with such simple materials as 

 water and web. The dewdrops were set at regular intervals 

 upon the web, so as to produce a definite and beautiful pattern, 



