256 DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 



ployed in the building of ships. I one day went to the side 

 of the river, near which a large ship was building in the city 

 of Goa, where there is a large area filled with beams for that 

 purpose. Some men tie the ends of the heaviest beams with 

 a rope, which is handed to the elephant, who carries it to his 

 mouth, and, after twisting it round his trunk, draws it, with- 

 out any conductor, to the place where the ship is building, 

 though it had only once been pointed out to him. He some- 

 times drew beams so large that more than twenty men would 

 have been unable to move them. But what surprised me 

 still more, when other beams obstructed the road, he elevated 

 the ends of his own beams, that they might run easily over 

 those which lay in his way. Could the most enlightened man 

 do more 1 " When at work, the elephant draws equally, and 

 if properly managed, never turns restive. The man who con- 

 ducts the animal generally rides on his neck, and employs a 

 hooked iron rod, or a bodkin, with which he pricks the head 

 or sides of the ears, in order to push the creature forward, or 

 to make him turn. But words are commonly sufficient. The 

 attachment and affection of the elephant are sometimes so 

 strong and durable that he has been known to die of grief, 

 when, in an unguarded paroxysm of rage, he had killed his 

 guide. 



Before the invention of gunpowder, elephants were em 

 ployed in war by the African and Asiatic nations. " From 

 time immemorial," says Schoutton, " the kings of Ceylon, of 

 Pegu, and of Aracan, have used elephants in war. Naked 

 sabres were tied to their trunks, and on their backs were fixed 

 small wooden castles, which contained five or six men armed 

 with javelins, and other weapons." The Greeks and Romans, 

 however, soon became acquainted with the nature of these 

 monstrous warriors. They opened their ranks to let the animals 

 pass, and directed all their weapons not against the elephants, 

 but their conductors. Since fire Has now become the element 

 of war, and the chief instrument of destruction, elephants, who 

 are terrified both at the flame and noise, would be more dan- 

 gerous than useful in our modern battles. The Indian kings, 

 however, still arm elephants in their wars. In Cochin, and 

 other parts of Malabar, all the warriors who fight not on foot 

 are mounted on elephants. The same practice obtains in 

 Tonquin, Siam, and Pegu. In these countries, the kings and 

 nobles at public festivals are always preceded and followed 

 by numerous trains of elephants, pompously adorned with 

 pieces of shining metal, and clothed with rich garments. Their 



