between their struggles they beat the ground with their fore feet, and
taking up the dry earth in a coil of the trunk, they flung it
dexterously over every part of their body. Even when lying down, the
sand within reach was thus collected and scattered over their limbs:
then inserting the extremity of the trunk in their mouths, they withdrew
a quantity of water, which they discharged over their backs, repeating
the operation again and again, till the dust was thoroughly saturated. I
was astonished at the quantity of water thus applied, which was
sufficient when the elephant, as was generally the case, had worked the
spot where he lay into a hollow, to convert its surface into a coating
of mud. Seeing that the herd had been now twenty-four hours without
access to water of any kind, surrounded by watch-fires, and exhausted by
struggling and terror, the supply of moisture an elephant is capable of
containing in the receptacle attached to his stomach must be very
considerable.
The conduct of the tame ones during all these proceedings was truly
wonderful. They displayed the most perfect conception of every movement,
both of the object to be attained, and of the means to accomplish it.
They manifested the utmost enjoyment in what was going on. There was no
ill-humour, no malignity in the spirit displayed, in what was otherwise
a heartless proceeding, but they set about it in a way that showed a
thorough relish for it, as an agreeable pastime. Their caution was as
remarkable as their sagacity; there was no hurrying, no contusion, they
never ran foul of the ropes, were never in the way of the animals
already noosed; and amidst the most violent struggles, when the tame
ones had frequently to step across the captives, they in no instance
trampled on them, or occasioned the slightest accident or annoyance. So
far from this, they saw intuitively a difficulty or a danger, and
addressed themselves unbidden to remove it. In tying up one of the
larger elephants, he contrived before he could be hauled close up to the
tree, to walk once or twice round it, carrying the rope with him; the
decoy, perceiving the advantage he had thus gained over the nooser,
walked up of her own accord, and pushed him backwards with her head,
till she made him unwind himself again; upon which the rope was hauled
tight and made fast. More than once, when a wild one was extending his
trunk, and would have intercepted the rope about to be placed over his
leg, Siribeddi, by a sudden motion of her own trunk, pushed his aside,
and prevented him; and on one occasion, when successive efforts had
failed to put the noose over the fore-leg of an elephant which was
already secured by one foot, but which wisely put the other to the
ground as often as it was attempted to pass the noose under it, I saw
the decoy watch her opportunity, and when his foot was again raised,
suddenly push in her own leg beneath it, and hold it up till the noose
was attached and drawn tight.
One could almost fancy there was a display of dry humour in the manner
in which the decoys thus played with the fears of the wild herd, and
made light of their efforts at resistance. When reluctant they shoved
them forward, when violent they drove them back; when the wild ones
threw themselves down, the tame ones butted them with head and
shoulders, and forced them up again. And when it was necessary to keep
them down, they knelt upon them, and prevented them from rising, till
the ropes were secured.
At every moment of leisure they fanned themselves with a bunch of
leaves, and the graceful ease with which an elephant uses his trunk on
such occasions is very striking. It is doubtless owing to the
combination of a circular with a horizontal movement in that flexible
limb; but it is impossible to see an elephant fanning himself without
being struck by the singular elegance of motion which he displays. The
tame ones, too, indulged in the luxury of dusting themselves with sand,
by flinging it from their trunks; but it was a curious illustration of
their delicate sagacity, that so long as the mahout was on their necks,
they confined themselves to flinging the dust along their sides and
stomach, as if aware, that to throw it over their heads and back would
cause annoyance to their riders.
One of the decoys which rendered good service, and was obviously held in
special awe by the wild herd, was a tusker belonging to Dehigame
Rata-mahatmeya. It was not that he used his tusks for purposes of
offence, but he was enabled to insinuate himself between two elephants
by wedging them in where he could not force his head; besides which they
assisted him in raising up the fallen and refractory with greater ease.
In some instances where the intervention of the other decoys failed to
reduce a wild one to order, the mere presence and approach of the tusker
seemed to inspire fear, and insure submission, without more active
intervention.
I do not know whether it was the surprising qualities exhibited by the
tame elephants that cast the courage and dexterity of the men into the
shade, but even when supported by the presence, the sagacity, and
co-operation of these wonderful creatures, the part sustained by the
noosers can bear no comparison with the address and daring displayed by
the _pícador_ and _matador_ in a Spanish bull-fight. They certainly
possessed great quickness of eye in watching the slightest movement of
the elephant, and great expertness in flinging the noose over its foot
and attaching it firmly before the animal could tear it off with its
trunk; but in all this they had the cover of the decoys to conceal them;
and their shelter behind which to retreat. Apart from the services
which, from their prodigious strength, the tame elephants are alone
capable of rendering, in dragging out and securing the captives, it is
perfectly obvious that without their co-operation the utmost prowess and
dexterity of the hunters would not avail them, unsupported, to enter the
corral and ensnare and lead out a single captive.
Of the two tiny elephants which were entrapped, one was about ten months
old, the other somewhat more. The smaller one had a little bolt head
covered with woolly brown hair, and was the most amusing and interesting
miniature imaginable. Both kept constantly with the herd, trotting after
them in every charge; when the others stood at rest they ran in and out
between the legs of the older ones; and not their own mothers alone, but
every female in the group caressed them in turn.
The dam of the youngest was the second elephant singled out by the
noosers, and as she was dragged along by the decoys, the little creature
kept by her side till she was drawn close to the fatal tree. The men at
first were rather amused than otherwise by its anger; but they found
that it would not permit them to place the second noose upon its mother;
it ran between her and them, it tried to seize the rope, it pushed them
and struck them with its little trunk, till they were forced to drive it
back to the herd. It retreated slowly, shouting all the way, and pausing
at every step to look back. It then attached itself to the largest
female remaining in the group, and placed itself across her forelegs,
whilst she hung down her trunk over its side and soothed and caressed
it. Here it continued moaning and lamenting; till the noosers had left
off securing its mother, when it instantly returned to her side; but as
it became troublesome again, attacking every one who passed, it was at
last tied up by a rope to an adjoining tree, to which the other young
one was also tied. The second little one, equally with its playmate,
exhibited great affection for its dam; it went willingly with its captor
as far as the tree to which she was fastened, and in passing her
stretched out its trunk and tried to rejoin her; but finding itself
forced along, it caught at every twig and branch within its reach, and
screamed with grief and disappointment.
These two little creatures were the most vociferous of the whole herd,
their shouts were incessant, they struggled to attack every one within
reach; and as their bodies were more lithe and pliant than those of
greater growth, their contortions were quite wonderful. The most amusing
thing was, that in the midst of all their agony and affliction, the
little fellows seized on every article of food that was thrown to them,
and ate and roared simultaneously.
Amongst the last of the elephants noosed was the rogue. Though far more
savage than the others, he joined in none of their charges and assaults
on the fences, as they uniformly drove him off and would not permit him
to enter their circle. When dragged past another of his companions in
misfortune, who was lying exhausted on the ground, he flew upon him and
attempted to fasten his teeth in his head; this was the only instance of
viciousness which occurred during the progress of the corral. When tied
up and overpowered, he was at first noisy and violent, but soon lay down
peacefully, a sign, according to the hunters, that his death was at
hand. Their prognostication was correct; he continued for about twelve
hours to cover himself with dust like the others, and to moisten it with
water from his trunk; but at length he lay exhausted, and died so
calmly, that having been moving but a few moment before, his death was
only perceived by the myriads of black flies by which his body was
almost instantly covered, although not one was visible a moment
before.[1] The Rodiyas were called in to loose the ropes that bound him,
from the tree, and two tame elephants being harnessed to the dead body,
it was dragged to a distance without the corral.
[Footnote 1: The surprising faculty of vultures for discovering carrion,
has been a subject of much speculation, as to whether it be dependent on
their power of sight or of scent. It is not, however, more mysterious
than the unerring certainty and rapidity with which some of the minor
animals, and more especially insects, in warm climates congregate around
the offal on which they feed. Circumstanced as they are, they must be
guided towards their object mainly if not exclusively by the sense of
smell; but that which excites astonishment is the small degree of odour
which seems to suffice for the purpose; the subtlety and rapidity with
which it traverses and impregnates the air; and the keen and quick
perception with which it is taken up by the organs of those creatures.
The instance of the scavenger beetles has been already alluded to; the
promptitude with which they discern the existence of matter suited to
their purposes, and the speed with which they hurry to it from all
directions; often from distances as extraordinary, proportionably, as
those traversed by the eye of the vulture. In the instance of the dying
elephant referred to above, life was barely extinct when the flies, of
which not one was visible but a moment before, arrived in clouds and
blackened the body by their multitude; scarcely an instant was allowed
to elapse for the commencement of decomposition; no odour of
putrefaction could be discerned by us who stood close by; yet some
peculiar smell of mortality, simultaneously with parting breath, must
have summoned them to the feast. Ants exhibit an instinct equally
surprising. I have sometimes covered up a particle of refined sugar with
paper on the centre of a polished table; and counted the number of
minutes which would elapse before it was fastened on by the small black
ants of Ceylon, and a line formed to lower it safely to the floor. Here
was a substance which, to our apprehension at least, is altogether
inodorous, and yet the quick sense of smell must have been the only
conductor of the ants. It has been observed of those fishes which travel
overland on the evaporation of the ponds in which they live, that they
invariably march in the direction of the nearest water, and even when
captured, and placed on the floor of a room, their efforts to escape are
always made towards the same point. Is the sense of smell sufficient to
account for this display of instinct in them? or is it aided by special
organs in the case of the others? Dr. MCGEE, formerly of the Royal Navy,
writing to me on the subject of the instant appearance of flies in the
vicinity of dead bodies, says: "In warm climates they do not wait for
death to invite them to the banquet. In Jamaica I have again and again
seen them settle on a patient, and hardly to be driven away by the
nurse, the patient himself saying. 'Here are these flies coming to eat
me ere I am dead.' At times they have enabled the doctor, when otherwise
he would have been in doubt as to his prognosis, to determine whether
the strange apyretic interval occasionally present in the last stage of
yellow fever was the fatal lull or the lull of recovery; and 'What say
the flies?' has been the settling question. Among many, many cases
during a long period I have seen but one recovery after the assembling
of the flies. I consider the foregoing as a confirmation of smell being
the guide even to the attendants, a cadaverous smell has been perceived
to arise from the body of a patient twenty-four hours before death."]
When every wild elephant had been noosed and tied up, the scene
presented was truly oriental. From one to two thousand natives, many of
them in gaudy dresses and armed with spears, crowded about the
enclosures. Their families had collected to see the spectacle; women,
whose children clung like little bronzed Cupids by their sides; and
girls, many of them in the graceful costume of that part of the
country,--a scarf, which, after having been brought round the waist, is
thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm and side free and
uncovered.
At the foot of each tree was its captive elephant; some still struggling
and writhing in feverish excitement, whilst others, in exhaustion and
despair, lay motionless, except that, from time to time, they heaped
fresh dust upon their heads. The mellow notes of a Kandyan flute, which
was played at a distance, had a striking effect upon one or more of
them; they turned their heads in the direction from which the music
came, expanded their broad ears, and were evidently soothed with the
plaintive sound. The two young ones alone still roared for freedom; they
stamped their feet, and blew clouds of dust over their shoulders,
brandishing their little trunks aloft, and attacking every one who came
within their reach.
At first the older ones, when secured, spurned every offer of food,
trampled it under foot, and turned haughtily away. A few, however, as
they became more composed, could not resist the temptation of the juicy
stems of the plantain, but rolling them under foot, till they detached
the layers, they raised them in their trunks, and commenced chewing
listlessly.
On the whole, whilst the sagacity, the composure, and docility of the
decoys were such as to excite lively astonishment, it was not possible
to withhold the highest admiration from the calm and dignified demeanour
of the captives. Their entire bearing was at variance with the
representation made by some of the "sportsmen" who harass them, that
they are treacherous, savage, and revengeful; when tormented by the guns
of their persecutors, they, no doubt, display their powers and sagacity
in efforts to retaliate or escape; but here their every movement was
indicative of innocence and timidity. After a struggle, in which they
evinced no disposition to violence or revenge, they submitted with the
calmness of despair. Their attitudes were pitiable, their grief was most
touching, and their low moaning went to the heart. We could not have
borne to witness their distress had their capture been effected by the
needless infliction of pain, or had they been destined to ill-treatment
afterwards.
It was now about two hours after noon, and the first elephants that had
entered the corral having been disposed of, preparations were made to
reopen the gate, and drive in the other two herds, over which the
watchers were still keeping guard. The area of the enclosure was
cleared; and silence was again imposed on the crowds who surrounded the
corral. The bars that secured the entrance were withdrawn and every
precaution repeated as before; but as the space inside was now somewhat
trodden down, especially near the entrance, by the frequent charges of
the last herd, and as it was to be apprehended that the others might be
earlier alarmed and retrace their steps, before the barricades could be
replaced, two tame ones were stationed inside to protect the men to whom
that duty was assigned.
All preliminaries being at length completed, the signal was given; the
beaters on the side most distant from the corral closed in with tom-toms
and discordant noises; a hedge-fire of musketry was kept up in the rear
of the terrified elephants; thousands of voices urged them forward; we
heard the jungle crashing as they came on, and at last they advanced
through an opening amongst the trees, bearing down all before them like
a charge of locomotives. They were led by a huge female, nearly nine
feet high, after whom one half of the herd dashed precipitately through
the narrow entrance, but the rest turning suddenly towards the left,
succeeded in forcing the cordon of guards and making good their escape
to the forest.
No sooner had the others passed the gate, than the two tame elephants
stepped forward from either side, and before the herd could return from
the further end of the enclosure, the bars were drawn, the entrance
closed, and the men in charge glided outside the stockade. The elephants
which had previously been made prisoners within exhibited intense
excitement as the fresh din arose around them; they started to their
feet, and stretched their trunks in the direction whence they winded the
scent of the herd in its headlong flight; and as the latter rushed past,
they renewed their struggles to get free and follow. It is not possible
to imagine anything more exciting than the spectacle which the wild ones
presented careering round the corral, uttering piercing screams, their
heads erect and trunks aloft, the very emblems of rage and perplexity,
of power and helplessness.
Along with those which entered at the second drive was one that
evidently belonged to another herd, and had been separated from them in
the _mêlée_ when the latter effected their escape, and, as usual, his
new companions in misfortune drove him off indignantly as often as he
attempted to approach them.
The demeanour of those taken in the second drive differed materially
from that of the preceding captives, who, having entered the corral in
darkness, to find themselves girt with fire and smoke, and beset by
hideous sounds and sights on every side, were speedily reduced by fear
to stupor and submission--whereas, the second herd having passed into
the enclosure by daylight, and its area being trodden down in many
places, could clearly discover the fences, and were consequently more
alarmed and enraged at their confinement. They were thus as restless as
the others had been calm, and so much more vigorous in their assaults
that, on one occasion, their courageous leader, undaunted by the
multitude of white wands thrust towards her, was only driven back from
the stockade by a hunter hurling a blazing flambeau at her head. Her
attitude as she stood repulsed, but still irresolute, was a study for a
painter. Her eye dilated, her ears expanded, her back arched like a
tiger, and her fore-foot in air, whilst she uttered those hideous
screams that are imperfectly described by the term "_trumpeting_."
Although repeatedly passing by the unfortunates from the former drove,
the new herd seemed to take no friendly notice of them; they halted
inquiringly for a minute, and then resumed their career round the
corral, and once or twice in their headlong flight they rushed madly
over the bodies of the prostrate captives as they lay in their misery on
the ground.
It was evening before the new captives had grown wearied with their
furious and repeated charges, and stood still in the centre of the
corral collected into a terrified and motionless group. The fires were
then relighted, the guard redoubled by the addition of the watchers, 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
Rata-Mahatmeya succeeded in attaching 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 decoys;
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 hedgehog, 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 obstructed 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, then swaying it
backwards and forwards, by pushing it with their foreheads, they watched
the opportunity when it was in full swing to raise their fore-feet
against the stem, and bear it down to the ground. Then tearing off the
festoons of climbing plants, and trampling down the smaller branches and
brushwood, they pitched them with their tusks, piling them into heaps
along the side of the fence.
[Illustration of elephant resisting capture.]
Amongst the last that was secured was the solitary individual belonging
to the fugitive herd. When they attempted to drag him backwards from the
tree near which he was noosed, he laid hold of it with his trunk and lay
down on his side immoveable. The temple tusker and another were ordered
up to assist, and it required the combined efforts of the three
elephants to force him along. When dragged to the place at which he was
to be tied up, he continued the contest with desperation, and to prevent
the second noose being placed on his foot, he sat down on his haunches,
almost in the attitude of the "Florentine Boar," keeping his hind-feet
beneath him, and defending his fore-feet with his trunk, with which he
flung back the rope as often as it was attempted to attach it.
[Illustration of elephant lying on ground after capture.]
When overpowered and made fast, his grief was most affecting; his
violence sunk to utter prostration, and he lay on the ground, uttering
choking cries, with tears trickling down his cheeks.