Account of tke White Elephant of' Siam. -341 



3. Account of the White Elephant of Siam. By George Finlayson, Esq* 



We were first conducted to the stables of the white elephants, which, 

 being held in great veneration by the Siamese, are kept within the inner 

 enclosure of the palace, and have habitations allotted to them quite close to 

 those of the King himself. 



Of white elephants there are at the present time no fewer than five in 

 the possession of the King, whence we may infer that this variety is far less 

 rare than we are accustomed to believe, at least that is so in the farther 

 Peninsula of India. It has, however, seldom happened that so many have 

 been collected at one period, and the present is regarded as auspicious, in 

 consequence of an event so unexpected, and so much desired. A white 

 elephant is still reckoned as beyond all value. Every effort is made to take 

 them, when they are by chance discovered ; and the subjects of the King 

 can perform no more gratifying service than that of securing them. They, 

 and indeed all elephants, are the property of the King only. 



The appellation white, as applied to the elephants, must be received with 

 some degree of limitation. The animal is in fact an occasional variety, of 

 less frequent occurrence indeed, but in every respect analogous to what oc- 

 curs in other orders of animals, and, amongst the rest, in the human species. 

 They are, correctly speaking, albinos, and are possessed of all the peculiarities 

 of that abnormal production ; but of these white elephants, it was remarkable 

 that the organ of sight was to all appearance natural and sound, in no way in- 

 tolerant of light, readily accommodating itself to the degrees of light and 

 shade, and capable of being steadily directed to objects at the will of the ani- 

 mal. In short, similar in all respects to that of the common elephant, with 

 the exception of the iris, which was of a pure white colour. In this respect 

 they resembled all the quadrupedal albinos that I had hitherto seen, as those 

 among horses, cows, rabbits. This circumstance I should scarce have thought 

 worth the noticing, were it not that I shall have occasion to mention in the 

 sequel an instance of an animal of the albino kind, possessed of the peculiar 

 eye of the human albino. In one or two of the elephants, the colour was 

 strictly white, and in all of them the iris was of that colour as well as the 

 margins of the eyelids. In the rest the colour had a cast of pink in it. The 

 hairs upon the body were for the most part yellowish, but much more scanty, 

 finer, and shorter than in other elephants ; the strong hairs of the tail were 

 darker, but still of a yellowish colour. In none did the colour and texture 

 of the skin appear entirely healthy. In some the cuticular texture of the 

 legs was interspersed with glandular knots, which gave a deformed appear- 

 ance to these members. In others the skin of the body was uncommonly 

 dry, while the natural wrinkles were unusually large, secreted an acid-like 

 fluid, and seemed ready to burst out into disease. These beasts were all 

 of a small size, but in excellent condition, and one of them was even hand- 

 some. They were treated with the greatest attention, each having several 

 keepers attached to him. Fresh cut grass was placed in abundance by 



their side. They stood on a large boarded platform, kept clean ; a white 



cloth was spread before them, and while we were present, they were fed 



with sliced sugar cane and branches of plantains. 



In the same pkce we observed rather a fine«looking elephant, but a small 



