The King Has A Very Large Place, About A Mile From Pegu, For Catching
Wild Elephants, In A Great Grove Or Wood, Having A Fair Court In The
Middle.
There are many huntsmen, who go into the wilderness with
she-elephants, trained for the purpose, each huntsman having five or six
which are anointed with a certain ointment to entice the wild males to
follow them.
When they have brought a wild elephant within their snares,
the hunters send word to the town, on which many horsemen and footmen go
out, and force the wild elephant to enter into a narrow way leading to
the inner inclosure, and when the he and she are in, then is the gate
shut upon them. They then get the female out, and when the male finds
himself alone and entrapped, he cries out and sheds tears, running
against the enclosure, which is made of strong trees, and some of them
break their tusks in endeavouring to force their way out. The people
then goad him with pointed canes, till they force him into a narrow
stall, in which he is securely fastened with strong ropes about his body
and legs, and is left there for three or four days without food or
drink. Then they bring a female to him, with food and drink, and unbind
the ropes, and he becomes tame in three or four days. When they take the
elephants to war, they fix a frame of wood on their backs with great
ropes, upon which sit four or six men, who fight with guns, bows and
arrows, darts, and other weapons; and it is said that the elephant's
hide is so thick that a musket ball will not pierce them, except in some
tender place.
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