4 MANTRA GAJAH. 



and they unanimously attributed the whole of their knowledge 

 of the capture, training and treatment of elephants to the 

 Siamese. 



That the Malays are correct in admitting their indebted- 

 ness to the Siamese for their knowledge of elephants is not 

 however admitted Jby some authorities. 



Crawfurd was of opinion that the Malays obtained their 

 knowledge from India. He writes " the popular name for the 

 " elephant everywhere is the Sanskrit one, gajah * but as the 

 " animal is a denizen of the forests of the Peninsula and Sumatra, 

 "the probability is that this has arisen from the Hindus having 

 " instructed the natives in the art of taming it, a supposition 

 " corroborated by the fact that all the gear and trappings of the 

 " elephant with the name of the conductor are also Sanskrit." f 



In Maxwell's Manual of the Malay language, the rash conclud- 

 ing statement is considerably modified as follows. 



" The elephant is most generally known over the Archipe- 

 " lago by its Sanskrit name gajah. Sanskrit terms are also 

 " used to signify the driver of an elephant and several .articles 

 "used in connexion with the animal." 



The following list J is given. 

 English Malay Sanskrit. 



Elephant Gajah g a ja. 



Elephant driver Gambala gopala (herdsman). 



Goad Kosa ankuca. 



Foot chain anduwan andu (chain). 



Front part of the 1^,1 _-.■'• 



hea( l > Gomba Kumbha. 



Unbroken, vicious, 1 , , 



musth } meta mada - 



Hobbles sengkela crinkhala (chain). 



* Blrom is used in many hikaiats instead of gajah. Its deriva- 

 tion is not given in any Malay dictionary in my possession. 



t Crawfurd Malay Grammar p. clxxviii. The italics are mine. 

 t Another word might be added. Mengkuna, the Malay word 

 for a tuskless male is obviously the Indian word Muckna. 



Jour. Straits Branch 



