ep watch during the night, the guard was
reinforced around the enclosure, and wood heaped on the fires to keep up
a high flame till sunrise.

Three herds had been originally entrapped by the beaters outside; but
with characteristic instinct they had each kept clear of the other,
taking up different stations in the space invested by the watchers. When
the final drive took place one herd only had entered the enclosure, the
other two keeping behind; and as the gate had to be instantly shut on
the first division, the last were unavoidably excluded and remained
concealed in the jungle. To prevent their escape, the watchers were
ordered to their former stations, the fires were replenished; and all
precautions having been taken, we returned to pass the night in our
bungalows by the river.

CHAP. VI.

THE ELEPHANT.

* * * * *

_The Captives._

As our sleeping-place was not above two hundred yards from the corral,
we were frequently awakened by the din of the multitude who were
bivouacking in the forest, by the merriment round the watch-fires, and
now and then by the shouts with which the guards repulsed some sudden
charge of the elephants in attempts to force the stockade. But at
daybreak, on going down to the corral, we found all still and vigilant.
The fires were allowed to die out as the sun rose, and the watchers who
had been relieved were sleeping near the great fence, the enclosure on
all sides being surrounded by crowds of men and boys with spears or
white peeled wands about ten feet long, whilst the elephants within were
huddled together in a compact group, no longer turbulent and restless,
but exhausted and calm, and utterly subdued by apprehension and
amazement at all that had been passing around them.

Nine only had been as yet entrapped[1], of which three were very large,
and two were little creatures but a few months old. One of the large
ones was a "rogue" and being unassociated with the rest of the herd, he
was not admitted to their circle, although permitted to stand near them.

[Footnote 1: In some of the elephant hunts conducted in the southern
provinces of Ceylon by the earlier British Governors, as many as 170 and
200 elephants were secured in a single corral, of which a portion only
were taken out for the public service, and the rest shot, the motive
being to rid the neighbourhood of them, and thus protect the crops from
destruction. In the present instance, th