In Training for Work 85 



timber yard, admired his shape, noted his youth, 

 and decided that here was an animal which, 

 with proper care, was suited for a better fate 

 than that of a Hving traction-engine ; and that 

 a profit could be made if it were possible 

 to purchase at a reasonable price. Hence it 

 was that, one breezy morning when the tide 

 was running up against the wind, and the 

 muddy water of the estuary was white with 

 breaking wavelets, the elephant was stripped 

 of his harness and led down to a wharf over- 

 looking the wider stream. All around him 

 were men bustlino- and shoutino- rollino- or 

 carrying bales into the ship which lay alongside, 

 and after some hours of waitinor strono- broad 

 girths were fastened round his body, there 

 was a clanking of machinery, and the elephant 

 felt himself lifted from his feet and swaying 

 in mid-air. The sensation was terrifying, and 

 never before had he felt so helpless ; he waved 

 his trunk in all directions in the hope of finding 

 some firm hold for it, but without success ; 

 then he felt himself being lowered till his feet 

 touched the main-deck below, and here, once 



