MANTRA GAJAH. 41 



tion of the male, and he moves forward to caress her. Urged 

 by the surrounding elephants she moves slowly towards the 

 noose and steps into, an,d out of, it in safety. The male follows 

 in her footsteps, and as he plants his foot a Malay pulls the 

 knot and he is caught. Of course he rushes away at once, but 

 at the end of the line attached to the noose is a heavy mass of 

 branches which act as an effectual drag upon his progress. 

 Fatigue soon makes him go slower, and then the elephants close 

 upon him again and while two great cows press upon him on 

 either side, a Malay slips a noose upon another leg. Soon each 

 leg is noosed, and then in some convenient place the ends of 

 all four nooses are made fast to trees, and the elephant is a 

 prisoner. 



An elephant, whether caught with a herd or in a noose, is 

 kept tied up until it has been thoroughly subdued and quiet, 

 and will submit to being washed and handled. Hobbles are 

 then put on it, and then, tied to another elephant, it is taken 

 down to the river to bathe. From this stage its domestication 

 is gradual. 



Then comes its tuition. Under the Malay system every 

 elephant, even one born in captivity and brought up from its 

 birth in the village, has to be taught the words of command in 

 the barbarous cruelty of the chelony or stocks. Here it is con- 

 fined in such a position that it cannot move an inch in any 

 direction while it learns its lessons. 



In seven to ten days a clever village reared elephant will 

 have learnt enough to earn its release from the stocks. A wild 

 elephant will require forty to a hundred days. 



After this a forest-caught animal is taken about tied to a 

 tame elephant, and gradually the rotans that join them are 

 lengthened, until at last the elephant can be trusted to be let 

 loose. It drags long rotans after it for some time however so 

 that if it attempts to escape it can be easily seized again. 



A year should be allowed to elapse between the date of an 

 elephant's being taken out of the stocks and of its being put to 

 use as a beast of burden. During this time it is being perfect- 

 ed in the lessons learnt in the stocks. 



R. A. Soc, No, 45, 1905. 



