158 



MAMMALIA. 



[Chap. V. 



who have been marked for the beauty of their ivory, 

 the natives avail themselves of the aid of females in 

 order to effect their approaches and secure an oppor- 

 tunity of casting a noose over the foot of the destined 

 captive. All accounts concur in expressing high admi- 

 ration of their courage and address ; but from what has 

 fallen under my own observation, added to the descriptions 

 I have heard from other eye-witnesses, I am inclined 

 to believe that in such exploits the Moormen of Ceylon 

 evince a daring and adroitness, surpassing all others. 



These professional elephant catchers, or, as they are 

 called, Panickeas, inhabit the Moorish villages in the 

 north and north-east of the island, and from time im- 

 memorial have been engaged in taking elephants, which 

 are afterwards trained by Arabs, chiefly for the use of 

 the rajahs and native princes in the south of India, 

 whose vakeels are periodically despatched to make pur- 

 chases in Ceylon. 



The ability evinced by these men in tracing elephants 

 through the woods has almost the certainty of instinct ; 

 and hence their services are eagerly sought by the 

 European sportsmen who go down into their country in 

 search of game. So keen is their glance, that like hounds 

 running " breast high " they will follow the course of 

 an elephant, almost at the top of their speed, over 

 glades covered with stunted grass, where the eye of a 

 stranger would fail to discover a trace of its passage, 

 and on through forests strewn with dry leaves, where 

 it seems impossible to perceive a footstep. Here they 

 are guided by a bent or broken twig, or by a leaf 

 dropped from the animal's mouth, on which the pres- 

 sure of a tooth may be detected. If at fault, they fetch 

 a circuit like a setter, till lighting on some fresh marks, 



