718 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



surely must be considered a signal triumph of his intelligence and courage, that he is 

 able to bend such gigantic creatures to his will. The professional elephant-catchers 

 of Ceylon, or Panickeas, as they are called, are particularly remarkable for their daring 

 and adroitness. Their ability in tracing their huge game, rivaling that of the Ameri- 

 can Indian in following the enemy's trail, 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 almost at the top of 

 their speed, like hounds running breast-high, they will follow the course of an elephant 

 over glades covered with stunted grass, where the eye of a stranger would fail to dis- 

 cover 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 they can detect the 

 pressure of a tooth. If at fault, they fetch a circuit like a setter, till lighting on 

 some fresh marks, they go ahead again with renewed vigor. So delicate is the sense 

 of smell in the elephant, and so indispensable is it to go against the wind in approach- 

 ing him, that the Panickeas on those occasions when the wind is so still that its direc- 

 tion cannot be otherwise discerned, will suspend the film of a gossamer to determine 

 it, and shape their course accordingly. 



On overtaking the game, their courage is as conspicuous as their sagacity. If they 

 have confidence in the sportsman for whom they are finding, they will advance to the 

 very heel of the elephant, slap him on the quarter, and then convert his timidity into 

 anger, till he turns upon his tormentor, and exposes his heavy front to receive the 

 bullet which is awaiting him. So fearless and confident are they, that two men with- 

 out aid or attendants will boldly attempt to capture the largest-sized elephant. Their 

 only weapon is a flexible rope made of buffalo's hide, with which it is their object to 

 secure one of the hind-legs. This they effect either by following in his footsteps when 

 in motion, or by stealing close up to him when at rest, and, availing themselves of the 

 propensity of the elephant at such moments to swing his feet backwards and forwards, 

 they contrive to slip a noose over his hind-leg. 



At other times, this is achieved by spreading the noose on the ground, partially 

 concealed by roots and leaves, beneath a tree on which one of the party is stationed, 

 whose business it is to lift it suddenly by means of a cord, raising it on the elephant's 

 leg at the moment when his companion has succeeded in provoking him to place his 

 foot within the circle, the other end having been previously made fast to the stem of 

 the tree. Should the noosing be effected in open ground, and no tree of sufficient 

 strength at hand round which to wind the rope, one of the Moors, allowing himself 

 to be pursued by the enraged elephant, entices him towards the nearest grove, when 

 his companion, dexterously laying hold of the rope as it trails along the ground, sud- 

 denly coils it round a suitable stem, and brings the fugitive to a stand still. On find- 

 ing himself thus arrested, the natural impulse of the captive is to turn on the man 

 who is making fast the rope, a movement which it is the duty of his colleague to pre- 

 vent by running up close to the elephant's head, and provoking him to confront him 

 by irritating gesticulations and incessant shouts of dah! dah! a monosyllable, the 

 sound of which the elephant peculiarly dislikes. Meanwhile the first assailant having 

 secured one noose, comes up from behind with another, with which, amidst the vain 

 rage and struggles of the victim, he entraps a fore-leg, the rope being as before se- 



