inwards, making noise by day and lighting their torches by night. The cordon gradually contracts, until the elephants are at length driven into the kraal, the entrance to which is securely fastened. The beaters stand round outside the enclosure, ready to turn back the rushes of the herd upon the barrier by thrusting flaming torches in their faces. After a time tame elephants are introduced into the enclosure, ridden by their mahouts, who, strange to say, are hardly ever, if ever, attacked by the wild and frightened members of the herd. Of these one is singled out, and two tame elephants range themselves on either side, while an agile native close behind watches an opportunity to lasso the leg of the wild one, upon which the strong rope is made fast to a tree. The same process is repeated until all are secured. The captured elephants are then left until starvation reduces them to docility, when they are conducted by trained elephants to their future 'stables,' where they are similarly fastened to trees, and carefully fed until they resign themselves to the position, and are trained by their keeper and attendant, who is a member of a special class. In the capture of the elephants there is a great deal of unavoidable cruelty, as a proportion of those fastened to trees kill themselves in their efforts to burst their bonds; but once tamed the elephant is at once the most docile and intelligent of all animals whose services man has appropriated. The tame elephants take a keen and sporting interest in the captures, and assist by cajolery and force in the operations.
The population was in 1901 over 8,500,000, which is divided as follows:
| Europeans | 6,300 |
| Burghers and Eurasians | 23,482 |
| Sinhalese | 2,330,807 |
| Tamils | 951,740 |
| Moormen (Mohammedans) | 228,034 |
| Malays | 14,902 |
| Veddahs | 3,071 |
| Others (including some 70 nationalities) | 9,718 |
