408 



ELEPHANT. 



outrageous as any of the other elephants. At length 

 an old hunter coming and examining him narrowly, 

 declared that he was the very elephant that had made 

 his escape about eighteen months before. Confident 

 of this, he boldly rode up to him on a tame elephant, 

 and ordered him to lie down, pulling him by the ear 

 at the same time. The animal seemed quite taken 

 by surprise, and instantly obeyed the word of com- 

 mand with as much quickness as the ropes with which 

 he was tied permitted ; uttering, at the same time, a 

 peculiar shrill squeak through his trunk, as he had 

 been formerly known to do, by which he was imme- 

 diately recognised by every person who had ever 

 been acquainted with this peculiarity. Thus we see 

 that this elephant, for the space of eight or ten days 

 during which he was in the inclosure, and even while 

 he was tying in the outlet, appeared equally wild and 

 fierce as the boldest elephant then taken, so that he 

 was not even suspected of having been formerly taken 

 till he was conducted from the outlet. The moment, 

 however, he was addressed in a commanding tone, the 

 recollection of his former obedience seemed to rush 

 upon him at once, and without any difficulty he per- 

 mitted a driver to be seated on his neck, who, in a 

 few days, made him as tractable as ever." 



This account of the sagacity of the elephant we 

 shall conclude, by quoting some of those stories which 

 have been commonly related as illustrative of the 

 degree of intellect which he is supposed to possess, 

 for the purpose of gratifying the general reader. In 

 the eastern countries which are still under the controul 

 of the native rulers, the elephant is sometimes exhi- 

 bited in a manner similar to that in which wild beasts 

 were on the arena of the Roman amphitheatres. We 

 shall give one instance of an engagement between ele- 

 phants and a tiger, in which great injustice appears to 

 have been done to the latter animal. It is related by Mr. 

 Finlayson, in liis account of the mission to Siam and 

 Hue, and took place on a grassy spot about half a mile 

 each way ; the governor, the mandarins, and the sol- 

 diers being present on the occasion. The tiger was 

 bound to a stake in the centre of the plain, the claws 

 being torn out, and his lips being stitched together. He 

 was turned loose, and attempted to escape, but in vain : 

 he next threw himself at length upon the grass, till, 

 seeing a large elephant with long tusks approach, he 

 rose and faced the coming danger. The elephant 

 was, by this attitude, and the horrid growl of the tiger, 

 too much intimidated, and turned aside ; while the 

 tiger pursued him closely, and struck him with his 

 fore paw upon the hind quarter, quickening his pace 

 not a little. The elephant being brought back to the 

 charge, rushed on furiously, driving his tusks into the 

 earth under the tiger, and, lifting him up, cast him 

 about thirty feet. The tiger lay as if dead, yet he 

 had sustained no material injury ; for, on the next 

 attack, he threw himself into an attitude of defence, 

 and, as the elephant was again about to take him up, 

 he sprung upon his forehead, fixing his hind feet upon 

 the trunk of the former. The elephant was wounded, 

 and so frightened that he fairly ran off, and could not 

 be rallied to the fight again. Another elephant was 

 now brought, but the tiger made less resistance, it 

 being evident that the tosses he received must soon 

 occasion his death. Other elephants with tusks were 

 brought forward : their attack was in every instance 

 by rushing upon the tiger, thrusting their tusks under 

 him, and throwing him to a distance. Of their trunks 

 they were evidently very careful, rolling them cau- 



tiously under the chin. When the tiger was perfectly 

 dead, an elephant was brought up, who, instead of 

 raising him with his tusks, seized him with his trunk, 

 and cast him to the distance of thirty feet. 



Elephants in India were once employed in the 

 launching of ships. One was directed to force a very 

 large vessel into the water, but which proved supe- 

 rior to his strength. In a sarcastic tone of voice his 

 master desired the keeper to take away the lazy beast, 

 and bring another in his stead ; the distressed animal 

 instantly increased his efforts, in doing which he frac- 

 tured his skull on the spot. 



An elephant in Delhi, passing along the streets put 

 his trunk into a tailor's shop, where several people 

 were at work ; one of them pricked the end of it with 

 his needle. The beast passed on ; but in coming to 

 the next dirty pool of water filled his trunk with it, 

 and returned apparently in great wrath back to the 

 shop, where, upon arriving, he discharged the whole 

 contents over those who had offended him, and entirely 

 spoiled their work. 



An elephant in Ajmeer, which passed frequently 

 through the bazaar or market, as he went by a 

 certain herb woman, always received from her a 

 mouthful of greens. At length he was seized with 

 one of his periodical fits of rage, broke from his 

 fetters, and, running through the market, put the 

 crowd to flight, and among others this woman, who 

 in haste forgot a little child she had brought with 

 her. The animal, gratefully recollecting the spot 

 where his benefactress was wont to sit, laid aside his 

 fury, and taking up the infant gently in his trunk 

 placed it safely on a stall before a neighbouring 

 house. In the Dekan, another elephant, not having 

 received some arrack which had been promised by 

 the cornac, or governor, by way of revenge killed 

 him. The comae's wife, who was an eye-witness to 

 this, took her two children and flung them before the 

 elephant, saying, " Now you have destroyed their 

 father, you may as well put an end to their lives and 

 mine." He instantly stopped, relented, took the 

 biggest of the children, placed him on his neck, 

 adopted him for his cornac, and never afterwards 

 would permit any body else to mount him. 



There was a soldier at Pondicherry, who was ac- 

 customed, whenever he received his share of liquor, 

 to carry a certain quantity of it to one of these 

 animals, having drunk rather too freely one day, and 

 finding himself pursued by the guards, who were 

 going to take him to prison, he took refuge under the 

 elephant's body and fell asleep. The guard tried to 

 force him from this asylum in vain, as the elephant 

 protected him with his trunk. The following morn- 

 ing, the soldier recovering from his drunken fit, 

 shuddered with horror to find himself stretched 

 under the belly of this huge animal. The elephant, 

 which, without doubt, perceived the man's embarrass- 

 ment, caressed him with his trunk in order to inspire 

 him with courage, and made him understand that he 

 might now depart in safety. 



A painter was desirous of drawing the elephant, 

 which was kept in the menagerie at Versailles, in an 

 uncommon attitude, which was that of holding >his 

 trunk raised up in the air, with his mouth open. 

 The painter's boy, in order to keep the animal in 

 this posture, threw fruit into his mouth ; but as he had 

 frequently deceived him, and made him an offer only 

 of throwing the fruit, he grew angry, and, as if he 

 had known the painter's intention of drawing him 



