194 



MAMMALIA. 



[Chap. VI. 



instances where the intervention of the other decoys 

 failed to reduce a wild one to order, the mere presence 

 and approach of the tusker seemed to inspire fear, and 

 insure submission, without more active intervention. 



I do not know whether it was the surprising qualities 

 exhibited by the tame elephants that cast the courage 

 and dexterity of the men into the shade, but even when 

 supported by the presence, the sagacity, and co-operation 

 of these wonderful creatures, the part sustained by the 

 noosers can bear no comparison with the address and 

 daring displayed by the picador and matador in a 

 Spanish bull-fight. They certainly possessed great 

 quickness of eye in watching the slightest movement of 

 the elephant, and great expertness in flinging the noose 

 over its foot and attaching it firmly before the animal 

 could tear it off with its trunk ; but in all this they had 

 the cover of the decoys to conceal them ; and their 

 shelter behind which to retreat. Apart from the services 

 which, from their prodigious strength, the tame elephants 

 are alone capable of rendering, in dragging out and 

 securing the captives, it is perfectly obvious that without 

 their co-operation the utmost prowess and dexterity of 

 the hunters would not avail them, unsupported, to enter 

 the corral and ensnare and lead out a single captive. 



Of the two tiny elephants which were entrapped, one 

 was about ten months old, the other somewhat more. The 

 smaller one had a little bolt head covered with woolly 

 brown hair, and was the most amusing and interesting 

 miniature imaginable. Both kept constantly with the 

 herd, trotting after them in every charge ; when the 

 others stood at rest they ran in and out between the legs 

 of the older ones ; and not their own mothers alone, but 

 every female in the group caressed them in turn. 



