'ME 110YAL ALiTILLEliY INSTITUTION. 
193 
“ The loading has been thus effected— 
“ The elephants being seated, two parallel skids are placed with their upper 
ends resting on the cradle, their lower ends being on the ground; their 
parallelism is preserved at the proper distance by iron stays; they are 
formed with a track, along which the iron tracks of the travelling bed, 
fitted with iron flanges, run. Tackle is attached to the travelling bed, 
passed over rollers which are fixed in the cradle and manned on the opposite 
side of the animal; four men with handspikes heave the mortar or bed up 
to the skid and, the tackle being hauled on, the load is run up rapidly into 
its cradle. 
“ To prevent the pad being displaced while the load is hauled up, a third 
skid (somewhat shorter) is placed on the off (hauling) side, with one end 
resting against the cradle, thus checking the tendency of the cradle to come 
over with the haul and supporting the gear. 
“ The delay in preparing the elephant is the same as with the gun. 
Unloading, 
“ Unloading is performed under the same arrangements with both descrip¬ 
tions of ordnance; with the guns it is a much easier process than that of 
loading, and frequently only one skid has been employed in unloading 
the carriage. 
Ci For marching in an ordinary country, the equipment now used is, I think, 
almost all that can be desired; the only alteration I would suggest, is that 
curled hair should be used, ak for saddles, instead of coir (cocoa nut fibre) 
for the stuffing of the under pad, which should be somewhat thicker than 
that now used. 
“ The skin of the elephant is so singularly tender that it easily becomes 
chafed, and serious galls and sores ensue from friction as well as from the 
pressure of the heavy weights carried, which have remained on the elephants* 
backs, at times, from 12 to 20 hours without interruption. 
“ In a mountainous country, such as that recently travelled over, I would 
propose that the pads be fitted with breechings and breast-pieces, as the 
rope now used, which in the one case is pulled tight under the tail, 
and in the other under the throat, has caused very severe galls and sores to 
those parts, notwithstanding that a piece of chafing-leather was placed 
between the rope and skin; moreover, in ascending, the strain, caused by 
the weight being thrown back, acted very detrimentally on the respiration, 
almost choking the elephant; to remedy this defect, probably an arrangement 
like a horse collar might be used; I consider it would also be an improve¬ 
ment if the pads were attached and secured in the same manner as the 
cradles, that is, by being secured from the sides under the belly instead of 
by a rope passing completely round and over the animal; the objection to 
the present arrangement is, that if the ropes are found to be loose, either 
from carelessness oil the part of the mahout, or the tricks of the animal, 
they cannot be adjusted without removing the loads; whereas, under the 
arrangement proposed, the ropes can be drawn tight as the girths of a saddle. 
“ The cradles, &c. supplied to G/14«th R.A. are somewhat slight, having 
been intended for use with a 6-pr. Battery. The beds for the guns were 
cut to receive the larger circumference of the 12-prs. 
