en to them by the riders what they have to do, and the rider holds in
his hand a small iron spike which he presses against the elephant's neck
to make him move forwards, backwards, to right or left. A rider
approaches a selected victim. If he turns to attack, another tame
elephant comes up and gives him a thrust with his tusks. Choosing his
time, the rider throws a noose round the head of the wild animal. The
tame one helps with his trunk to place the noose right. The other end is
made fast round the trunk of a tree. When the animal is thus secured the
rider slips down to the ground and throws another noose round his hind
legs, and the end of this rope is also fastened to a tree. Thus he is
rendered harmless, and he struggles and tugs in vain to get loose.
Meanwhile the other tame elephants with their riders help to catch and
fetter their wild relations.

Then the captives, well and securely bound, are led one after another
out of the enclosure and are fastened to trees in the forest. Here they
have for a long time to accustom themselves to man and the society of
tame elephants, and when they have lost all fear, spitefulness, and
wildness they are led into the villages to be regularly broken in and
trained to work in the service of their capturers.

It is pleasant to see tame elephants at work, or bathing in the rivers
with their drivers (Plate XV.). They carry timber, they carry goods
along the high-roads, they are useful in many ways where great strength
is needed. The Maharajas of India always keep a well-filled elephant
stable, but employ the animals mostly for tiger-hunting and riding. The
elephant is to them a show animal which is never absent on occasions of
ceremony. Old well-trained animals which carry themselves with royal
dignity fetch, therefore, a very high price.

THE COBRA

The cobra, or spectacled snake, is the most poisonous snake in India. It
is very general in all parts of India, in Further India, in southern
China, in the Sunda Islands, and Ceylon. Its colour is sometimes
yellowish, shading into blue, sometimes brown, and dirty white on the
under side. It is about five feet long. When it is irritated it raises
up the front part of its body like a swan's neck, spreads out the eight
foremost pairs of ribs at the sides, so that a hat or shield-shaped hood
is formed below the head. The rest of the body is curled round, and
gives the creature firm support when it balances the upper part of its
body