75 



CHAP. II. 



THE ELEPHANT. 



Structure and Functions. 



During my residence at Kandy, I had twice the oppor- 

 tunity of witnessing the operation on a grand scale, of 

 capturing wild elephants, intended to be trained for the 

 public service in the establishment of the Civil Engineer ; 

 — and in the course of my frequent journeys through 

 the interior of the island, I succeeded in collecting so 

 many facts relative to the habits of these interesting 

 animals in a state of nature, as enable me not only 

 to add to the information previously possessed, but 

 to correct many fallacies popularly received regarding 

 their instincts and disposition. These particulars I am 

 anxious to place on record before proceeding to describe 

 the scenes of which I was a spectator, during the pro- 

 gress of the elephant hunts in the district of the Seven 

 Korles, at which I was present in 1846, and again in 

 1847. 



With the exception of the narrow but densely inha- 

 bited belt of cultivated land, that extends along the 

 seaborde of the island from Chilaw on the western coast 

 to Tangalle on the south-east, there is no part of Ceylon 



