202 



MAMMALIA. 



[Chap. VI. 



who were now relieved from duty in the forest, and the 

 spectators retired to their bungalows for the night. 



The business of the third day began by noosing and 

 tying up the new captives, and the first sought out was 

 their magnificent leader. Siribeddi and the tame tusker 

 having forced themselves on either side of her, a boy in 

 the service of the Eata-Mahatmeya succeeded in attach- 

 ing a rope to her hind-foot. Siribeddi moved off, but 

 feeling her strength insufficient to drag the reluctant 

 prize, she went down on her fore-knees, so as to add the 

 full weight of her body to the pull. The tusker, seeing 

 her difficulty, placed himself in front of the prisoner, and 

 forced her backwards, step by step, till his companion 

 brought her fairly up to the tree, and wound the rope 

 round the stem. Though overpowered by fear, she 

 showed the fullest sense of the nature of the danger she 

 had to apprehend. She kept her head turned towards 

 the noosers, and tried to step in advance of the de- 

 coys ; in spite of all their efforts, she tore off the first 

 noose from her fore-leg, and placing it under her foot, 

 snapped it into fathom lengths. When finally secured, 

 her writhings were extraordinary. She doubled in her 

 head under her chest, till she lay as round as a hedge- 

 hog, and rising again, stood on her fore-feet, and lifting 

 her hind-feet off the ground, she wrung them from side 

 to side, till the great tree above her quivered in every 

 branch. 



Before proceeding to catch the others, we requested 

 that the smaller trees and jungle, which partially ob- 

 structed our view, might be broken away, being no longer 

 essential to screen the entrance to the corral ; and five 

 of the tame elephants were brought up for the purpose. 

 They felt the strength of each tree with their trunks, 



