attracting his
attention as to allure him along in the direction in which they want him
to go. Some assistance is derived from the rope by which the original
capture was effected, and which, as it serves to make him safe at night,
is never removed from the leg till his taming is sufficiently advanced
to permit of his being entrusted with partial liberty.

In Ceylon the principal place for exporting these animals to India is
Manaar, on the western coast, to which the Arabs from the continent
resort, bringing with them horses to be bartered for elephants. In order
to reach the sea, open plains must be traversed, across which it
requires the utmost courage, agility, and patience of the Moors to coax
their reluctant charge. At Manaar the elephants are usually detained
till any wound on the leg caused by the rope has been healed, when the
shipment is effected in the most primitive manner. It being next to
impossible to induce the still untamed creature to walk on board, and no
mechanical contrivances being provided to ship him; a dhoney, or native
boat, of about forty tons' burthen, and about three parts filled with
the strong ribbed leaves of the Palmyra palm, is brought alongside the
quay in front of the Old Dutch Fort, and lashed so that the gunwale may
be as nearly as possible on a line with the level of the wharf. The
elephant being placed with his back to the water is forced by goads to
retreat till his hind legs go over the side of the quay, but the main
contest commences when it is attempted to disengage his fore feet from
the shore, and force him to entrust himself on board. The scene becomes
exciting from the screams and trumpeting of the elephants, the shouts of
the Arabs, the calls of the Moors, and the rushing of the crowd.
Meanwhile the huge creature strains every nerve to regain the land; and
the day is often consumed before his efforts are overcome, and he finds
himself fairly afloat. The same dhoney will take from four to five
elephants, who place themselves athwart it, and exhibit amusing
adroitness in accommodating their movements to the rolling of the little
vessel; and in this way they are ferried across the narrow strait which
separates the continent of India from Ceylon.[1]

[Footnote 1: In the _Philosophical Transactions_ for 1701, there is "An
Account of the taking of Elephants in Ceylon, by Mr. STRACHAN, a
Physician who lived seventeen years there," in which the author
describes the manner in whic