flowers, and other gaudy ornaments. Amongst a set of printed cloths, displayed on the walls, was one containing a representation of a flying eagle with the head of an elephant carrying an elephant in each claw, a symbolical device probably intended to exhibit the genius of man triumphing over the strength and sagacity of these formidable animals.

CHAPTER VII

la db

213

DESCRIPTION OF AN ELEPHANT HUNT-PLAN OF INSNARING, AND MANNER OF SECURING THE WILD ELEPHANTS.

ON the 21st of August we made an excursion to the elephant snare at Kotawy, nine miles north of Tengalle, The first half mile led through a deep sand along the sea shore: after which we crossed a small river in single canoes. A wooden bridge is thrown over it, sixty feet long, and twelve feet high above water, but only affording the breadth of one plank to walk upon. The natives, however, pass on it with ease, even when loaded with heavy burdens. The remainder of the road lay entirely inland, the path being smooth and firm, sometimes covered with short grass, leading through cultivated grounds, fields of paddee, and meadows replenished with herds of buffaloes, and common black and red cattle. Many fine mountains appeared, some rocky and steep, and all richly adorned with wood. About half way to the snare, at the distance of one mile on the left hand, a white temple and tomb of Buddha rise from the bosom

of a dark green forest. The labourers' cottages are every where thatched with straw, a circumstance denoting a considerable cultivation of rice, but not common on the coasts of this island, the leaves of the cocoa-nut tree being the usual materials in the construction of roofs. ca

1

In the district of Matura are three enclosures for insnaring elephants, only one of which is used in one year. That which has been occupied this season cannot be employed the next, as the thickets are so much broken down and devoured that they could not afford the necessary pasture. But, after two or three years, the foliage is completely renewed, and the same enclosure may be chosen again with every advantage.

1

... All the forests of Ceylon abound with elephants, which are gregarious, usually traversing the country in large troops together. As they often descend from the mountain's of Candy to the lower territories, and obliterate the traces of cultivation, by merely walking through the grounds, it is thought that the snare was first invented for the purpose of diminishing their number, without any view of benefiting by them in their tamed condition. Be this as it may, it is absolutely necessary for the comfort of the inhabitants and the prosperity of agriculture that the extirpation of these animals should be continued. They not only destroy, unintentionally, the husbandman's fields of corn; but are also fond of the produce of his garden, particularly of cocoa-nut leaves and

plantain trees, which they devour with eagerness. The elephants of Ceylon, besides, are highly prized, on the peninsula of India, on account of their extreme gentleness and docility: and, being too useful to mankind to be permitted to roam unemployed in an island, they are transported to the conti nent, to increase the pomp of princes, and to add to the energy of war.

45

When government has determined that a hunt shall take place, natives are sent out into the woods and mountains to discover the retreats of the wild elephants, and to mark in what direction they range in greatest numbers. As soon as the situation of two or three herds has been ascertained, an order is issued to all the inhabitants of the district to surround the forest, in which they feed, with a chain of fires, that must be kept constantly burning while the hunt continues. On the last occasion this chain, like a net drawing the animals, commenced its operations thirty miles from the snare at Kotawy; and an advancing line of three thousand men was employed in supporting it for the space of two months. do

The fires are raised four feet from the ground on moveable stands, formed of four perpendicular sticks, and twigs wattled across them, on which earth is laid to receive the fuel, and covered with a sloping roof of cocoa-nut leaves to ward off rain. These stands are placed, at first, about one hundred paces from each other, and are gradually brought

nearer in proportion to the compression of the enclosure, until at last the distance between them does not exceed ten paces.

The chain of fires approaches daily, at the rate of from one furlong to a mile, towards the snare. This movement is not made by a regular advance, but by cutting off corners of the ground, out of which it is known that the elephants have departed. The people enter, at opposite sides, into a footpath in the woods, with stands and hurdles of fire; and, when a communication is opened between the parties, the enclosure is, in a certain degree, diminished. The vigilance of the men must increase as the circle lessens, for the efforts of the elephants to escape are proportioned to the smallness of the space in which they are confined. But shouts and flames strike them with so much terror, that they are, at all times, easily repulsed wherever they attempt to charge. Were it not for this timidity, no barrier of the stoutest timber could withstand the shock of those enormous animals, rushing on impetuously in a compact and impenetrable phalanx. At the end of two months they are enclosed in a circle, of which the wide entrance of the snare forms a part; and are, at last, brought so near to it, that by the exertions of the surrounding multitude, they can be made close prisoners in a few hours. The grand business of the campaign is then considered as brought to a termination: the incessant vigilance and energy of the pursuers have proved successful: