"During my residence in Ceylon, I had on two occasions opportunities of witnessing the operation on a grand scale, of capturing wild elephants, intended to be trained for the Government service in the establishment of the Civil Engineer and Commissioner of Roads; - and in the course of my frequent journeys through the interior of the island, I succeeded in collecting so many facts relative to the habits of these animals so interesting in a state of nature, as to enable me not only add to the information previously possessed, but to correct some of the fallacies popularly entertained regarding their disposition and instincts." - Sir J. Emerson Tennent, Bart. (1867)