172 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



great weight. To quote a concise and authentic 

 account : 



" A cylindrical barrel being placed on its side on 

 the stage, one of the elephants mounted on to it, 

 its four feet being close together, and then, pre- 

 serving its equilibrium, it moved the feet so as to 

 cause the barrel to roll with it to the opposite side 

 of the stage. This was done without any hesita- 

 tion on the part of the animal, or enforcement on 

 that of the manager. But the most astounding 

 performance was a game at seesaw, played by the 

 two animals. A strong trestle was placed in the 

 centre of the stage ; across this was laid a stout 

 beam, oscillating freely up and down, its centre 

 resting on the trestle. Going to that end of the 

 beam that was resting on the ground, one of the 

 animals walked up it to the centre, and then, pre- 

 serving its equilibrium, it rocked the beam up and 

 down. . . . Still more remarkable was the seesaw- 

 ing of the two animals at the same time ; sometimes 

 they were on the narrow beam with their heads in 

 the same direction; then placing themselves fac- 

 ing one another at the opposite ends, they swayed 

 their big bodies to and fro with such regularity of 

 rhythm that the seesawing took place with con- 

 siderable rapidity. It was most singular to see 

 these two enormous animals swinging with as much 

 freedom and ease as two children on a plank across 

 a prostrate tree." 



Mr. Adam Forepaugh, Jr., explained some time 



