494 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



its natural life is about one hun- 

 dred and twenty years. The In- 

 dians ai'e remarkably fond of these 

 animals, especially when they have 

 been long in their service. 1 have 

 seen an elephant valued at twenty 

 thousand rupees: the common price 

 of a docile well-trained elephant is 

 five or six thousand ; and in the 

 countries where they are indige- 

 nous, the Company contract for 

 them at five hundred rupees each, 

 when they must be seven feet high 

 at the shoulders. The mode of 

 catching and training the wild ele- 

 phants is now well known ; their 

 price increases with their merit 

 duringacourseof education. Some, 

 for ' their extraordinary qualities, 

 become in a manner invaluable ; 

 when these are purchased, no com- 

 pensation induces a wealthy owner 

 to part with them. 



The skin of the elephant is ge- 

 nerally a dark grey, sometimes al- 

 most black ; the face frequently 

 painted with a variety of colours; 

 and the abundance and splendor 

 of his trappings add much to his 

 consequence. The Mogul princes 

 allowed five men and a boy to take 

 care of each elephant ; the chief 

 of them, called the mahawut, rode 

 upon his neck to guide him ; ano- 

 ther sat upon the rump, and assisted 

 in battle ; the rest supplied him with 

 food and water, and performed the 

 necessary services. Elephants bred 

 to war, and well-disciplined, will 

 ^tand firm against a volley of mus- 

 quetry, and never give way unless 

 severely wounded. I have seen 

 one of those animals,with upwards 

 of thirty bullets in the fleshy parts 

 of his body, perfectly recovered 

 from his wounds. All are not 

 equally docile, and when an en- 

 raged elephaiit retreats from battle, 



nothing can withstand his fury: 

 the driver having no longer a com- 

 mand,friends and foes are involved 

 in undistinguished ruin. 



The elephants in the army of 

 Antiochus were provoked to fight , 

 by shewing them the blood of. I 

 grapes and mulberries. The his- 

 tory of the Maccabees informs us 

 that " to every elephant they ap- 

 pointed a thousand men, armed j 

 with coats of mail, and five hun- j 

 dred horsemen of the best ; these 

 were ready at every occasion ; 

 wherever the beast was, and whi- 

 thersoever he went, they went 

 also ; and upon the elephant were 

 strong towers of wood, filled with 

 armed men, besides the Indian that 

 ruled them." 



Elephants in peace and war 

 know their duty, and are more 

 obedient to the word of command 

 than many rational beings. It is 

 said they can travel, on an emer- 

 gency, two hundred miles in forty- 

 eight hours ; but will hold out for 

 a month, at the rate of forty or 

 fifty miles a day, with cheerfulness 

 and alacrity. I performed many 

 long journeys upon an elephant 

 given by Ragobah to colonel Keat- 

 ing ; nothing could exceed the sa- 

 gacity, docility, and affection of 

 this noble quadruped ; if I stopped 

 to enjoy a prospect, he remained 

 immoveable until my sketch was 

 finished; if I wished for ripe man- 

 gos gi'owing out of the common 

 reach, he selected the most fruitful 

 branch, and breaking it off with 

 his trunk, offered it to the driver 

 for the company in the houdah, 

 accepting of any part given to 

 himself with a respectful salem, by 

 raising his trunk three times above 

 his head, in the manner of the 

 oriental obeisance, and as often did 



