r.Li'.niANTS. 



natural dread of the tiger deeply implanted in the Elephant's being, it is no easy 

 matter to teach the animal to approach its brindled foe. A stuffed tiger-skm is 

 employed for this puq)ose, and is continually presented to the Elephant untd he 

 learns to lose all distrust of the inanimate object, and to strike it, to crush it with 

 his feet, or to pierce it with his tusks. After a while, a boy is put inside the 

 tiger-skin, in order to accustom the Elephant to the sight of the tiger in motion. 

 The last stage in tlie proceedings is to i^rocure a dead tiger, and to substitute 

 it for the stuffed representative. Even with all this training, it most frequently 

 happens, that when the Elephant is brought to face a veritable living tiger, the 

 fierce bounds, savage veils, and furious eyes of the beast are so discouraging, 

 that he turns tail, and makes the best of his way from the spot. Hardly one 

 Elephant out of ten will face an angry tiger. 



The Elephant is always guided by a mahout, who sits astride upon its neck 

 and directs the movements of the anilnal by means of his voice, aided by a kind 

 of spiked hook, called the haunkus, which is a])plied to the animal's head m 

 snch a manner as to convey the driver's wishes to the Elephant. The i)ersoiis 

 who ride upon the Elephant are either i)laced in the howdah, a kind of 

 wheelless carriage strapped on the animal's back, or sit upon ii^ large pad, which 

 is furnished with cross ropes in order to give a firm hold. The latter plan is 

 generally preferred, as the rider is able to change his position at will, and even 

 to recline upon the Elejdiant's back if he should be fatigued by the heavy 

 rolling gait of the animal. The Elephant generally kneels in order to permit 

 the riders to mount, and then rises from the ground with a peculiar swinging 

 motion that is quite indescribable, and is most discomposing to novices in the 

 art. Very small Elei)hants are furnished with a saddle like that which is used 

 upon horses, and is fitted with stirrups. The saddle, however, cannot be 

 conveniently used on animals that are more than six feet in height. 



The size of Elephants has been greatly exaggerated, as sundry writers have 

 given fourteen or sixteen feet as an ordinary height, and have even mentioned 

 instances where Elei)hants have attained" to the height of twenty feet. It 

 is true that the enormous bulk of the animal makes its height appear much 

 greater than is really the case. Eight feet is about the average height of a large 

 Elephant, and nine or ten feet is the utmost maximum to which the creature 

 ever attains. 



The general colour of the elephant is brown, of a lighter tint when the animal 

 is at Uberty, and considerably deeper when its hide is subjected to rubbing 

 with a cocoa-nut brush, and plenty of oil. Sometimes an albino or white 

 Elephant is seen in the forests, the colour of the animal being a pinky-white, and 

 a])tly compared to the nose of a white horse. 



•220 



