Pliny: Natural History, Vol. III

The Cave-dwellers Trogodytae people of the caves on the frontier of Ethiopia, whose only food is elephant meat obtained by hunting, climb up trees near the elephants’ track. There, they keep a lookout for the last of the whole column and jump down onto the hind part of its haunches. The tail is grasped in the man’s left hand and his feet are planted on the animal’s left thigh. Thus hanging suspended, with his right hand and with a very sharp axe, he hamstrings one leg. As the elephant runs forward with its leg crippled, he strikes the sinews of the other leg, performing the whole of these actions with extreme rapidity. Others, employing a safer but less reliable method, fix great bows, unbent, rather deep in the ground. These are held in position by young men of exceptional strength, while others striving with a united effort bend them. As the elephants pass by, they shoot them with hunting-spears instead of arrows and afterwards follow the tracks of blood.

Training of elephants. IX. The females of the genus elephant are much more timid than the males. Mad elephants can be tamed by hunger and blows, other elephants being brought up to one that is unmanageable to restrain it with chains. Besides this, they get very wild when in heat and overthrow the stables of the Indians with their tusks. Consequently, they prevent them from coupling and keep the herds of females separate, in just the same way as droves of cattle are kept. Male elephants when broken in serve in battle and carry castles manned with armed warriors.