red 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 p