There was a ringing in my ears, the room | and permitted the revealment which, by

but for the many voices of numerous children | should be continued until similar employat play, and the passage of small streams of ment could be procured. The number of persons to and from the Times advertisement- sheets then impressed in the hour was 1,100. office, the whole would form as retired a A machine erected in 1846 threw off 6,000 looking nook as could be met with in Lon- sheets of eight pages an hour; but another don. In the reign of Charles II. proclama- has since been erected which throws off tions, &c., were printed here by the King's 10,000 an hour. A newspaper and suppleprinter. The building of that date was de- ment of Jan. 23, 1845, contained 1,706 adstroyed by fire about the middle of the last vertisements. A page of advertisements, century, and what Maitland calls "the com- containing six columns, is worth £108. The pletest printing-house in the world" erected usual daily circulation of the Times is 35,000; on the spot. After the removal of the but on extraordinary occasions 54,000 copies Queen's printer to New-street, Fleet-street, have been printed. Mr. Walter, who so long 1770, this house became, in 1788, the print- and ably conducted this wonderful journal, ing and publishing place of the celebrated died in 1847. Times newspaper, a publication which may be justly classed among the wonders of the

age.

From "The Tribune."

ELEPHANT HUNTING IN CEYLON.

A FEW days since we had an opportunity of conversing with Mr. Stebbings June, who arrived from Ceylon about three weeks ago in the bark Regatta, bringing with him the cargo of elephants which now accompany Mr. Barnum's travelling menagerie. During his visit, Mr. June was obliged to traverse the greater part of the island in his search for a sufficient number of elephants of the size and quality required for an imposing exhibition. Consequently, he saw a great deal of the wild tropical regions of the interior and of the character and customs of the Cingalese. We give, herewith, an outline of his experience, which, if not quite equal to Mr. Gordon Cumming's South African stories, still furnishes an interesting chapter of adventure.

The Times was first commenced by Mr. John Walter, printer to the Customs, who was for many years before his death the principal proprietor. The son became joint proprietor, and exclusive manager of the Times at the commencement of the year 1803. The latter gentleman first imparted to the daily press its vast range and celerity of information, its authentic accuracy, its universal correspondence, its lucid arrangement, and marvellous dispatch; and, more than all, its dignity in the social scale, and its political position as what has been called the fourth estate of the realm. Mr. Walter was the first to bring the steam-engine to the assistance of the public press. To take off 5,000 impressions in an hour was once deemed as ridiculous as the idea of paddling a ship fifteen miles against wind and tide. It took a long while in those days to print off 3,000 or 4,000 copies of the Times. After Mr. June, with Mr. Nutter, of Boston, obstacles, not only caused by the difficult sailed on his elephantine expedition in July application of the machinery, but by the last, and arrived at Point de Galle, a seaopposition of the workmen, Mr. Walter suc- port on the southwestern extremity of Ceyceeded in secretly completing the steam- lon, in the early part of October. This port press in a house adjoining to the printing- and Trincomalee, on the northeastern coast, office. The suspicious pressmen had threat- are the only large harbors which the island ened destruction to every one whose inven- possesses. The first object of Messrs. June tions might suspend their employment- and Nutter, on landing, was to procure some "destruction to him and his traps." They elephants, either from the government were directed to wait for expected news authorities, or from the temples, which own from the Continent. It was about six o'clock large numbers of them, and thus avoid the in the morning of Nov. 29, 1814, when Mr. necessity of catching and taming wild aniWalter went into the press-room and aston- mals. In this, however, they were disapished its occupants by telling them that the pointed. The new governor had just enTimes was already printed by steam, buttered on his duties, and all official arrangethat, if they were peaceable, their wages ments seemed to be in a confused and un

satisfactory state. Besides, many of the roads in the interior had been injured by severe rains, and a greater number of the animals than usual was required, for the purpose of repairing them. Accordingly, after reaching Colombo, the maritime capital of the country, which lies on the western coast, about 60 miles north of Point de Galle, and finding no chance of procuring what he wanted, Mr. June determined to start for the city of Kandy, in the interior, and forty miles distant. An excellent carriage road has been constructed between the two places, on which a mail-coach makes three trips every week. Kandy, which is a large town, situated on a beautiful tableland 1,700 feet above the sea and surrounded by mountains, was the residence of the kings of Kandy, the native monarchs of the island, previous to their overthrow by the English, in 1815. Here again Mr. June was disappointed in his hope of finding elephants for sale, and notwithstanding the rainy season had just set in and the undertaking was considered hazardous in the extreme, he determined to take to the jungles and select a ship-load from among the wild herds.

southwest from April to September, and from the northeast from November to February. The elephants, who prefer the rainy season, range in the thick jungle covering the table-land and hills around the base of the mountain chain, following the rains from one side of the island to the other.

With a guide, interpreter, and a number of native assistants, Mr. June started for the haunts of the elephants in the jungles northwest of Kandy, while Mr. Nutter explored the southern part of the island. They were obliged to leave the travelled road, and trust themselves to the wild jungle-paths leading through the uncultivated districts frequented by the animals. These regions are covered with a growth of shrubbery and small trees, so thickly matted together with vines, that it is impossible to force the body through. Here and there, out of this sea of vegetation, rise the trunks of enormous trees, growing more frequent in the neighborhood of the mountains, where they frequently form forests of the grandest character. In hunting elephants, the paths made by the natives cannot always be followed, but new ones must be cut, which is a very slow and toilsome work. The elephants, however, find the jungle no obstacle to their progress, but with their heads lowered, crash through it at full speed. The noise of a herd in motion can be heard at a great distance.

Mr. June had the greatest success in the

In order to understand the nature of such an expedition, some account of the topography of the island is necessary. The shores of Ceylon are generally low, although in the southern part bluff and rocky. For some distance inland the ground is level, and for the most part cultivated, being cov-low lands in the northern part of the island, ered with fields of paddy (a coarse kind of rice) and groves of cinnamon. Toward the centre it rises into a table-land, from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the sea, and almost entirely covered with dense and luxuriant forests. This gradually rises into a mountain chain, which divides the island from north to south, into two nearly equal parts. Adam's Peak, about 30 miles southwest of Kandy, attains an altitude of more than 6,000 feet, and has been considered the highest of the range. Mr. June, however, informs us that on his way from Kandy to Fort Patrick, east of the mountains, he passed a still higher peak. This geographical division of the island is, singularly enough, a division of climate also-tremendous floods of rain deluging one side, while on the other the water is carefully hoarded to prevent a scarcity. The season shifts with the monsoon, which blows from the

near Anarajahpoora. The method of catching elephants, as described by him, must be a very exciting kind of business. The first step is to make a kraal, or pen, in some spot where the animals abound. This is constructed of heavy posts, set upright in the ground, closely bound together with withes, and made firm by other posts resting against them on the other side, as stays. The kraal forms three sides of a square, having an aperture on the fourth for the entrance of the elephants, from each side of which extends a long pallisade, slanting outward, like the mouth of a funnel. When all is completed, the natives lay in wait till a fine herd has wandered near the opening of the trap; then, surrounding them, they urge them forward with shouts and firing of muskets, till the frightened animals rush through the entrance and are safe within the kraal.

Now comes the work of catching and securing them, which would be a difficult and dangerous task were it not for the assistance rendered by tame elephants, trained for the purpose. One of these animals will gradually entice one of the imprisoned herd to a little distance from his fellows, and engage his attention by a gentle caress. He rubs his ears, strokes his trunk softly, and mumbles phrases of elephantine endearment, until the susceptible beast is completely beguiled by these tokens of affection. Presently a second tame elephant comes up on the other side and repeats the process, till the most complete confidence is established. Then, at the right period, they dextrously twine both their trunks around the trunk of the victim, and hold him as in a vice. These elephants wear collars around their shoulders, to which stout ropes are fastened. While the trunk of the wild animal is held, two or three natives are busy in fastening these ropes to his hind legs, and he is thus incapable of moving either forward or backward, except as his loving friends allow. He is then taken and made fast to a tree, where he is suffered to remain three or four days without food or drink. At the end of this time the tame elephants are brought up again, and, after being secured, he is taken down to a stream and watered He is approached very cautiously at first, but in the course of ten days or two weeks becomes docile enough to be driven at large with the tame beasts.

are shot, principally by the British officers stationed in Ceylon, who appear to enjoy sporting on such a gigantic scale. A cool head and a sure aim are all that is required. A slight hollow in the elephant's forehead, just between and above his eyes, is penetrable by a musket ball, and a single shot is generally sufficient to bring him down.

The Ceylon elephants are divided into two classes-the tuskar, or tusked elephants, and the aliar, who are destitute of those appendages. The former are much more valuable than the latter, and are principally caught for the priests, to be employed in the service of the temples.

Among the wild elephants, one is occasionally found who, from his mischievous or unsocial disposition, is banished from the herd, and becomes a sort of outcast. These are called rogue elephants. Mr. June succeeded in capturing one of them, which gave him a great deal of trouble before he was shipped at Point de Galle, but which he now considers the most valuable animal in his collection. On one occasion, while in Kandy, he broke from the court-yard in which he was confined during the night, and after considerable search, was found demolishing a plantation of bananas. He also attempted to escape while on the road to Colombo, but happening to cross a field of paddy which had just been irrigated, he sank to his knees, and was captured.

Mr. June attempted to cross the mountain chain east of Kandy, into the country of the Veddahs, or aboriginal inhabitants of Ceylon, but was obliged to return on account of the rough nature of the country, which is here a primitive wilderness. In addition to the almost impenetrable forests and jungles, the mountains rise in a line of sheer precipice, many hundred feet in height, and not to be scaled without great difficulty and danger, The Veddahs, who inhabit the wilderness

The natives have another way of taking them, but it is not often practised. The elephant, like all gentlemen living in the tropics, is fond of a siesta during the heat of the day. Occasionally he will rest his huge bulk against some convenient tree, and take an hour's doze with great satisfaction. Some of the Cingalese are daring enough, at this time, to creep stealthily through the jungle till they reach his very feet. Notwith-east of the mountains, are about on a par standing his thick hide, the elephant is very sensitive to touch. The native, provided with a rope, the other end of which is made fast to a tree, touches very gently the hind leg of the animal, who lifting his foot to shake off the supposed fly, instantly gives an opportunity for a noose to be slipped under. The same process is repeated with the other foot, and the elephant wakes up and finds himself caught. Large numbers

with the Bushmen of South Africa. They are divided into two classes, the village and the forest Veddahs, the former of whom dwell in communities and exhibit some faint glimmering of humanity. The latter run wild in the jungles, subsisting on roots and plants, and climbing into the branches of trees to sleep. Mr. June saw two of these creatures, who had been captured by the Cingalese, and describes them as being