The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1871-08-19
Importing Elephants.
A SHIP LOAD BROUGHT FROM CEYLoN TO
NEW YORK.

from Ceylon. They were brought to the
foot of Thirtieth street, North River, OF
board the bark Nehemiah Gibson, Captain
Smalley, which arrived after a four months
voyage from Ceylon.
The reporters, of course, visited the
vessel, and in talking with Captain Smalley
about the elephants, he furnished the fol
lowing account of the trade in those beasts
in the East Indies:
If you want to buy elephants cheap il
Ceylon, said the Captain, you must 60 tc
your hotel, throw yourself back in chair,
stick your thumbs in your vest, and say
want to buy some elephants. The native
dealers will seek you out eagerly and tell
you yarns about the fine beasts, they have
on hand for your consideration. Stroke
your chin musingly and tell them to fetch
along the elephants for inspection, and they
will do it. If you want one you will be
shown a hundred. The elephants aboard
my vessel, however, were bargained for
at the jungle. They are all fine beasts
and no mistake. They were all trapped in
the jungles Of the Mannah District, in Cey-
Ion, and all of them, with one exception,
chap of thirty years of age, were freshly
caught and wild. The one referred to had
been about two years in the custody of the
native dealers.
We received the elephants at Colombo
\ t1,a &c ~ hon 4
by means of canvas sings and ropes and
pulleys hung from the rigging and main
sail boom. Eleven of them in all were
safely slowed sway between decks. Forty
five natives were employed in the work of
hosting and lowering them aboard ship
This number was more than was needed,
but labor is cheap in Ceylon, and thought
| might as well have enough of them while
| was about it.
l made good preparation for them; had
stalls built of teak wood, strong enough
on all sides to resist pressure of two
thousand pounds, and so constructed as to
keep each animal in his place and securely
separated from the others in the toughest
weather. We sailed on the Goth of March,
and experienced the best kind of weather
until we reached the Cape Of Good Hope.
we had some little trouble and anxiety
about the elephants. Most of them got
sea-sick, which was manifested in their
refusing either to eat or drink for several
days, but they soon got over their quail
mishness and were able to eat as heartily
as when on dry land. At the Cape of
Good Hope we began to have rough wealth
er. We had three terrific gales while
rounding the Cape, and the rough weather
continued from the 14th to the 22d Of May.
We all felt a great deal of anxiety about
the elephants, who sometimes set up fear
full roaring, but luckily the bark weathered
the gales successfully, and the elephants,
thanks to the excellent precautions taken
to fasten them securely in their stalls, came
through it uninjured. As l showed you
when below, there were the two iron ring
bolts driven and riveted into the sides of
the vessel, and the strong bar of teak wood
we'll dashed to the front of the stalls.
Well, sir in rough weather we used to
tie their hind legs to the RUG bolts, and
the beasts would themselves wrap their
their trunks around the wooden bar before
the waves might toss the vessel as much as
they pleased but they couldn't throw the
elephants off their feet. Sometimes, to be
sure, an extraordinary lurch to one side OF
the other of the craft would throw the
elephants back up against the deck over
head, but this didn't happen often enough
to give them much annoyance. We put in
at St. Helena to take in a fresh supply of
water, and to get some green feed for the
beasts. We took in five thousand gallons
of water there and treated the elephants to
a feast Of green grass, which they eat with
a hearty relish, and showed in their ele-
phantine fashion the liveliest gratitude to
those who fed them. They used twenty
five thousand gallons of water on this pas
sage, and eat up 1875 bales of hay, averag-
ing 275 pounds per day, which food was in
addition to two bushels of gramm and
paddy; the last rolled up in the form of
little balls or cakes, and fed to them from
the hands of their Singhalese keepers.
Every individual on board would occa-
sionally give them sea-biscuit, which
was esteemed by the elephants to be a great
luxury. We selected names for some of
the elephants on the voyage, which l sup
pose they will always retain. One of them
was known as Mandoy. This animal was
the king elephant of the whole crew of
them. He belongs to what the natives call
high caste, and all the other beasts were
afraid of him. He was, without doubt,
with the exception of another high caste
elephant that was my favorite, and whom
called Nehemiah Gibson, the most know
ing creature in the whole lot. Mandoy
was everybody's favorite, and l believe he
will make his mark in the States. Anoth-
er one that we called Raiah was the largest
animal among them, and weighs 1000
pounds Then there was the baby elephant
only eight years old and weighing 800
pounds. The elephant that died on the
passage had every thing done to save him
that was possible, but nothing would avail.
On the day of their arrival the elephants
were landed. The arrangements for hoist
ing the animals from the bark to the pier
were ropes and pulleys fastened in the rig
ging, and canvass sings. There was no
trouble in landing the first three. The
fourth one was the elephant called Mandoy,
This brute became quite unruly before the
sling was fixed, and roared and threw his
trunk about in rage. The men handling
him became frightened, and the captain
went below and finally succeeded in pacify-
ing him. He was finally trapped, and as
he was hauled up and suspended in the air
he tapped his big ears, worked his huge
legs, and threw his trunk around wildly.
When he landed on the pier he showed
some signs of rage at the jeering crowd
who were looking on, and at the same time
the three elephants already landed broke
from their fastening to post on the pier.
The animals were all secured again, and