256 
PLINY'S NATUEAL HTSTOET. 
[Book VIII. 
effects of hunger ; as a proof of which, they would quietly 
take a branch that was extended to them by one of the men. 
At the present day, when we take them for the sake of their 
tusks, we throw darts at their feet, which are in general the 
most tender part of their body. The Troglodytse, who inhabit 
the confines of ^Ethiopia, and who live entirely on the flesh of 
elephants procured by the chase, climb the trees which lie 
near the paths through which these animals usually pass. 
Here they keep a watch, and look out for the one which comes 
last in the train ; leaping down upon its haunches, they seize 
its tail with the left hand, and fix their feet firmly upon the 
left thigh. Hanging down in this manner, the man, with 
his right hand, hamstrings the animal on one side, with a 
very sharp hatchet. The elephant's pace being retarded by 
the wound, he cuts the tendons of the ojjjiier ham, and then 
makes his escape ; all of which is done with the very greatest 
celerity. Others, again, employ a much safer, though less 
certain method ; they fix in the ground, at considerable inter- 
vals, very large bows upon the stretch ; these are kept steady by 
young men remarkable for their strength, while others, exert- 
ing themselves with equal efforts, bend them, and so wound 
the animals as they pass by, and afterwards trace them by 
their blood. The female elephant is much more timid by 
nature than the male. 
CHAP. 9. (9.) THE METHOD BY WHICH THEY AKE TAMED. 
Elephants of furious temper are tamed by hunger and 
blows, while other elephants are placed near to keep them quiet, 
when the violent fit is upon them, by means of chains. Ee- 
sides this, they are more particularly violent when in heat,^"^ 
at which time they will level to the ground the huts of the 
Indians with their tusks. It is on this account that they are 
prevented from coupling, and the females are kept in herds 
^6 We have the same account given by JElian and by Strabo. — B. 
5^ Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 18, remarks, that the violence of the 
animal, which is produced by an accidental cause, as also that arising from 
venereal excitement, are counteracted by opposite modes of treatment ; the 
one by depriving it of food, the other by over-feeding it ; the former, in 
order to break its strength, and the latter, to divert it into a difi'event 
channel. — B. 
