The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-01-01

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.. 7 have always been most careful never TO
trffe with the feelings Of an elephant and,
as consequence, have always beenwen re-
.ceived and dealt With in. elephant society
where was armed with suitable Intro
ductions..- = So: =
II was nearly, if not quite. born upon an
elephant, and during these early days be-
fore roads and railways were :intEOdneed.
into India. ana officers were constantly
moved. shout. the country from point TO.
point, tie. frst.six years Of MY life were
mostly spent etherupon elephant back or
in the ''c0mp6unds's where they waited
shout. stoidly Indifferent TO the. motives
and reasons which demanded their COR
slant attendance aud services. = -:
In their lordly way they were very Kind
90 me-. toe. Invariably, when: l stumped
down the compound: in the early mornings:
each. one would take:its turn rotlrOw It's
trunk lovingly round me and gently search
my limited clothing for any hard mats, rake
or such type of articles which might hurt
ne II / fell, OF while they delighted me by
rolling me over and over on@the grouAd
with sheir trunks for our mutual airrGse-:
ment. - ::
Then they. never neglected to give me a
ride on their necks every now and again in
exchange for little trifles fromihe kitchen,
and there wasn't servant on the premises:
whom l could not defy in mutinaas safety
from under the shelter of .th6iE trRnks. S. .:
A lonely little Anglo-Indian boy with.a
busy father and q delicate mother i had L o.
other friends but tile elephants. The ma
tives Idespised. They were criBging liars
and suited exaetlyto their position as SER.
wants and no more.
But the elerhants were .bigand straight
forward in their ways. they never stole;
things; they just took them as they eanse.
along and were waited, They: never: slunb
around or did things ain. an: UndeThand way,
and so admired and. liked them. 8. .. :.
- / missed them very ~Rrpeh when~l was.
taken away TO "civilized lands" .inthe due
routine OF Anglo-Ipdian. small. boy life, and:
so, when years after l went out to the,
Malay peninsula, the elephants in tbs: np-
country frontier districts were my Constant
friends and. Visitors ard wRsspent -:nFany
service during my foqE years service n.
Perak. -: -. =: :;
~ MY comments on theirsSaxs and manners:
will therefore be understood to apply 10 tire.
Nalayan elephant 10 particular, with whom
am very familiar; 5. -. -.
:: The Maayan elephant to any one but an
aBatomist is TO al intentS and purposPs:the
same as his African cODfrere.-s Ehe ele:
phant-hunter also has to look Tor different
. safe spots to aim:ter; but / am not d IS
eussing shooting or killing, but keeping
alive and:cOntrolling. 80.
The Malay peninsula abo1nds@ with .ele-
plants. - :s.... -.
In .Seiangor tie: natives are afraid to:
tackle the elephant. and so:,he runs wild
and walks into Villages, eating up their
paddy fields walking of efnconsclohsiy;.
with lightframe houses sticking about his
legs and III king up and disarranging. Kings
generally as he goes to and fTo, IN bulky, il+.
difference to anything save his own ideas. :
As a consequence SelaEgor IS aehaBpy
hunting ground for elephant hunters, Mh6se
destruction Of the animal IS not only toleT:
ated, but highly rel iced. III by the native
people, who are afraid TO fight them as an
enemy or master and train them as. seq
wants:
permitted to hunt and destroy elephants.
?: which are counted as valuable and useful
sdjunets to Perak's: we4faTe-whieh they.
are. =: -
An elephant drive is a.royal sport which
the Sultan orders every now and again
when the elephant market wants: res tock-a
ing or the market price of an-elephant rises
Zoe high. - :: g
liz. the great jungles, where the trees
stand only fifteen Or twenty feet apart, a.
huge elephant fence is made by Telling. in
termediate trees to fall 10 one. general ,d-
rection along two given lines q mile apart at:
one end and cOnvergilg to q narrow OPEN
+- ing two or three miles farther away This
! marrow gateway leads into a big. corral of
heavy tree trunks lying between standing
trees with strong .interlGclngs Of sapilngs
and tough rotaps, .unbTeakable Oy fifty ele-
-phants- And IL is IN this corral where, the
fun begins: a royal hunt is ordered and
every one must turn out 20 work and assist.
:: Wien the experts have selected their site
in the Uhgies-whicb Is always Chosen
somewhere near where elephants happen 20
be heldiug al The tine-the fences and cor;
raj are set to work upon by swarm Of .ex-
pert w6edsmen. a month completes the
work Two or three tame. elephants are
taken. 10 the. corral. and surrounding the
herds in the neighbonng country the drive
Excepting tile .'rogae'' all elephants are
tlmid by nature and, unless wounded into
anger, win always fly precpitately from:
mankind, The din and noise OF human
beings camping on their trail and steadily
. advancing soon sends them flying In terror
..fTOm the advance. =.
The scent of the elephants who have pre-
ceded them into the corral assists in entrap-
ping them, and when the last elephant isin
the corral and acouple OF prepped-ue trees
dropped across the. entrance the drive is
over =
They let them starve for days then until
they have become weak and easy to handle.
Then the elephant drivers commence 3heT
y
the rest Of their people:
They are all" rajahs." Not because eie-
Dhant-drlving %. a fashionable pursuit
among Tajahs, as have seen it eravely pub
lished by visitor TO our lands, but because
the man who can handle and dominate tile
elephant IS promptly made Fajah by his
Sultan for ObVious reasons.
If the Sultan fOrgets to make the man a
rsjah he makes himself one and no one ever
troubles to question his arrangement-the
To 10 oflf hal
When the training and tanning begins II
is sight worth seeing and equal 10 any
heroic performance in the arenas of ancient
Rome.
Seated astride the necksof tame elephants
F.: the trainers ride into the ring. Their steeds
are as naked as the day they were born,
with the exception of thick rotau twisted
round their necks.
Into this the trainer: twists his feet aud
helps, himself to retain his seat when the
angry elephant-sways and rolls his head TO
shake him of.
In his hand. the trainer carries the al
mighty 'kuasa, a slim little wooden rod
with sharp Steel point and spur, which is
all that IS :Tequired to make the massive
brute shrinking slave.
The MANS power over the elephant lies
= In the tender terror which the latter pos
seSses for the slightest touch or scratch
upon. BIS trunk.
The elephant-is represented as the most
sagaclous OF animals. In many. ways he is.
F.. but when one considers that with one quick
sweep Of his trunk he could wipe man off
his neck like fly, and then put his foot on
him, literally and metaphorically speaking,
for good and all. one is apt 10 doubt his
sagacity.
Otter and often the elephant, chafng
under restraint. will give the signs OF warn
ing which the driver never fails to note
who would remain driver
Al sueh times the monster begins 10 feel
around with. Ills trunk aftfully and deceit
July, affecting advances toward caress,
until sudden sweep from the cruel kuasa
sends awad Of flesh flying from his trunk
and sundry sharp prods driven into his
head with the metal point remind him that