The Wild Elephant and the Method of Capturing and Taming it in Ceylon

CONTENTS.

PART I.
HABITS IN A STATE OF NATURE.

CHAPTER I.
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS.

PAGE
Vast numbers in Ceylon	4
Derivation of the word “elephant,” note	ib.
Antiquity of the trade in elephants	5
Numbers now diminishing.	ib.
Mischief done by them to crops	ib.
Ivory scarce in Ceylon	6
Conjectures as to the absence of tusks	7
Elephant a harmless animal	9
Alleged antipathies to other animals	11
Fights with each other	15
The foot its chief weapon	16
Use of the tusks in a wild state doubtful	17
Anecdote of sagacity in an elephant at Kandy	19
Difference between African and Indian species	20
Native ideas of perfection in an elephant	21
Blotches on the skin	22
White elephants not unknown in Ceylon	23
CHAPTER II.
HABITS WHEN WILD.
Water, but not heat, essential to elephants	25
Sight limited	26
Caution	26
Smell acute	27
Hearing good	ib.
Cries of the elephant	27
Trumpeting	28
Booming noise	29
Height, exaggerated	30
Facility of stealthy motion	31
Ancient delusion as to the joints of the leg	32
Its exposure by Sir Thos. Browne	ib.
Its perpetuation by poets and others	35
Position of the elephant in sleep	38
An elephant killed on its feet	39
Mode of lying down	40
Its gait a shuffle	ib.
Power of climbing mountains	41
Facilitated by the joint of the knee	43
Mode of descending declivities, note	ib.
A “herd” is a family	45
Attachment to their young	46
Suckled indifferently by the females	ib.
A “rogue” elephant	47
Their cunning and vice	48
Injuries done by them	49
The leader of a herd a tusker	50
Bathing and nocturnal gambols, description of a scene by Major Skinner	51
Method of swimming	55
Internal anatomy imperfectly known	56
Faculty of storing water	58
Peculiarity of the stomach	59
The food of the elephant	63
Sagacity in search of it	64
Unexplained dread of fences	65
Its spirit of inquisitiveness	67
Anecdotes illustrative of its curiosity	ib.
Estimate of sagacity	68
Singular conduct of a herd during thunder	ib.
An elephant feigning death	70
Appendix.—Narratives of natives, as to encounters with rogue elephants	71
CHAPTER III.
ELEPHANT SHOOTING.
Vast numbers shot in Ceylon	77
Revolting details of elephant killing in Africa, note	78
Fatal spots at which to aim	79
Structure of the bones of the head	ib.
Wounds which are certain to kill	80
Attitudes when surprised	83
Peculiar movements when reposing	84
Habits when attacked	85
Sagacity of native trackers	86
Courage and agility of the elephants in escape	87
Worthlessness of the carcass	89
Note.—Singular recovery from a wound	90
PART II.
MODE OF CAPTURE AND TRAINING.
CHAPTER I.
AN ELEPHANT CORRAL.
Early method of catching elephants	96
Capture in pit-falls, note	ib.
By means of decoys	97
Panickeas—their courage and address	ib.
Their sagacity in following the elephant	ib.
Mode of capture by the noose	99
Mode of taming	100
Method of leading the elephants to the coast	101
Process of embarking them at Manaar	102
Method of capturing a whole herd	103
The “keddah” in Bengal described	104
Process of enclosing a herd	ib.
Process of capture in Ceylon	105
An elephant corral and its construction	105
An elephant hunt in Ceylon, 1847	106
The town and district of Kornegalle	ib.
The rock of Aetagalla	107
Forced labour of the corral in former times	110
Now given voluntarily	111
Form of the enclosure	112
Method of securing a wild herd	114
Scene when driving them into the corral	116
A failure	ib.
An elephant drove by night	118
Singular scene in the corral	119
Excitement of the tame elephants, note	ib.
CHAPTER II.
THE CAPTIVE.
A night scene	121
Morning in the corral	ib.
Preparations for securing the captives	122
The “cooroowe,” or noosers	ib.
The tame decoys	123
First captive tied up	124
Singular conduct of the wild elephants	126
Furious attempts of the herd to escape	127
Courageous conduct of the natives	128
Variety of disposition exhibited by the herd	131
Extraordinary contortions of the captives	ib.
Water withdrawn from the stomach	133
Instinct of the decoys	ib.
Conduct of the noosers	136
The young ones and their actions	137
Noosing a “rogue,” and his death	138
Instinct of flies in search of carrion, note	139
Strange scene	140
A second herd captured	142
Their treatment of a solitary elephant	143
A magnificent female elephant	144
Her extraordinary attitudes	ib.
Wonderful contortions	145
Taking the captives out of the corral	147
Their subsequent treatment and training	148
Grandeur of the scene	ib.
Story of young pet elephant	149
CHAPTER III.
TRAINING AND CONDUCT IN CAPTIVITY.
Alleged superiority of the Indian to the African elephant—not true	150
Ditto of Ceylon elephant to Indian	152
Process of training in Ceylon	155
Allowed to bathe	156
Difference of disposition	158
Sudden death of “broken heart”	160
First employment treading clay	161
Drawing a waggon	ib.
Dragging timber	ib.
Sagacity in labour	ib.
Mode of raising stones	162
Strength in throwing down trees exaggerated	ib.
Piling timber	163
Not uniform in habits of work	164
Lazy if not watched	165
Obedience to keeper from affection, not fear	ib.
Change of keeper—story of child	166
Ear for sounds and music	167
Ur-re! note	ib.
Endurance of pain	168
Docility	169
Working elephants, delicate	170
Deaths in Government stud	171
Diseases	172
Subject to tooth-ache	ib.
Question of the value of labour of an elephant	174
Food in captivity, and cost	175
Breed in captivity	176
Age	177
Theory of M. Fleurens	ib.
No dead elephants found	179
Sindbad’s story	181
Appendix.—Passage from Ælian	183
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
View of an Elephant Corral	Frontispiece
Brain of the Elephant	26
The Trunk as figured in the fifteenth century	28
Bones of the Fore-leg	41
Elephant descending a Hill	44
Elephant’s Well	55
Elephant’s Stomach, showing the Water-cells	59
Elephant’s Trachea	60
Water-cells in the Stomach of the Camel	62
Section of the Elephant’s Skull	80
Ground Plan and Fence of a Corral	112
Noosing Wild Elephants	to face 124
Mode of tying an Elephant	126
His Struggles for Freedom	127
Impotent Fury	130
Singular Contortions of an Elephant	132
Attitudes of Captives	to face 134
Obstinate Resistance	135
Attitude for Defence	147
Figures of the African and Indian Elephants on Greek and Roman Coins	151
Medal of Numidia	156
Modern Hendoo	ib.

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