MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 285 



No. VII,— PANIC IN ELEPHANTS DURING AN EARTHQUAKE. 



A severe shock of earthquake took place at 4-15, and lasted 3 minutes 

 on the 9th July. The Government elephants were feeding in front of the 

 Court-house at Tura. A very large mukna, a large female and a butcha 

 tusker. As soon as the first and most severe shock took place, the elephants 

 ran up the hiU, towards the D. C.'s house, which is on a ridge overlooking 

 a very deep valley. The distance from the Court-house to the gate of the 

 D. C.'s house is about 500 yards. The large mukna was first, reached the 

 gate and tore it from its hinges and came straight up the road with the 

 small elephant holding on to his tail. The mahout had no control over him, 

 and the other two elephants had no one on their backs. (My husband and 

 I were standing outside watching the plaster coming down in the bungalow 

 and the stone walls in the garden giving way). As soon as the elephant 

 broke the gate, the Garos advised us to go in, as the "hatis " would pass us, 

 and might attack us in their friglit. Just as we got into the verandah, 

 the big mukna reached the front of the house. He never stopped but rushed 

 along breaking down the 2nd gate — still with the butcha holding his tail. 

 The female stopped in front of the porch, and proceeded to knock large lumps 

 of turf from my lawn^ making queer noises and striking her trunk, also 

 trembling violently. The mahout clung to the trunk and quieted her down 

 gradually. The other animals rushed up a very steep hill into the jungle 

 and were only turned back by men with spears and sticks. If the little bati 

 had not clung to the tail, the ' mate ' on the back would have been thrown 

 off, as the mukna is a most surly animal. Their instinct was to run up a 

 hill into the jungle, and not along the big flat cart road. As I mentioned, 

 the D.C.'s house is on a ridge with two roads leading to it. One, with 

 the gate is more or less a carriage road, the other skirts the garden 

 below and is used as a public road, the elephants always use this 

 lower road on their way to grass and water, it runs along the side 

 of the hill, and it received part of the stone wall from the garden, or 

 large boulders, shaken down by the shock. The "hatis" seemed to 

 realize that it might have given way and kept on the top of the hill, 

 breaking down the gates guarding the top road, in preference to going on 

 the open khud road. 



The Garos say, butchas always catch the tails of larger elephants, when 

 in a panic. These hills are full of elephants, they do much damage and 

 Garos are more frightened of them than tigers or bears. 



TuRA, IQth July 1918. V. A. JACKSON, f.k.g.s. 



No. VIII.— ON WHITE ELEPHANTS. 



ConBiderable interest was shown in Bombay at the statement in a 

 recent Burmese letter of the Times of India that a white calf had been 

 born to one of the Bombay-Bnrmah Elephants and it may be of interest to 

 your readers to lecord what actually happened. 



A female calf born on 6th March 1918 aroused a good deal of 

 excitement by its unusually light colour and in view of the importance 

 attached by the Burmese to the birth of a genuine SINPYUDAW it was 

 thought advisable to submit the claims of the calf to a jury of prominent 

 Biirmans on the 7th April. 



The points of a SINPYUDAW appear to be as follows : — 



1. Twenty Toes. 



2. Pearl eyes. 



S. Tail"Tah Gah Paik." 



4. Red mouth. 



5. Light coloured and smooth skin. 



