22 WILD 1SEASTS AND T1IKIR WAYS CIIAP. 



Although the elephant is of enormous strength it is more or 

 less a delicate animal, and is subject to a variety of ailments. A 

 common disease is a swelling in the throat, which in bad cases 

 prevents it from feeding. Another complaint resembles gout in 

 the legs, which swell to a distressing size, and give exquisite pain, 

 esj)ecially when touched. This attack is frequently occasioned by 

 allowing elephants, after a long march tinder a hot sun, to wade 

 belly-deep in cool water in order to graze upon the aquatic 

 vegetation. 



Few animals suffer more from the sun's rays than the elephant, 

 whose nature prompts it to seek the deepest shade. Its dark 

 colour and immense surface attract an amount of heat which 

 becomes almost insupportable to the unfortunate creature when 

 forced to carry a heavy load during the hot season in India. Even 

 without a greater weight than its rider, the elephant exhibits signs 

 of distress when marching after 9 A.M. At such times it is 

 disagreeable, as the animal has a peculiar habit of sucking water 

 through the trunk from a supply contained within the stomach, 

 and this it syringes with great force between its fore legs, and 

 against its flanks to cool its sides with the ejected spray. The 

 rider receives a portion of the fluid in his face, and as the action 

 is repeated every five minutes, or less, the operation is annoying. 



It is a curious peculiarity in the elephant that it is enabled to 

 suck up water at discretion simply by doubling the trunk far down 

 the throat, and the fluid thus procured has no disagreeable smell, 

 although taken direct from the creature's stomach. In every way 

 the elephant is superior to most animals in the freedom from any 

 unpleasant odour. Its skin is sweet, and the hand retains no 

 smell whatever, although you may have caressed the trunk or any 

 other jxirtion of the body. It is well known that a horse is ex- 

 ceedingly strong in odour, and that nothing is more objectionable 

 than the close proximity of a stable, or even of a large number of 

 horses piequetcd in the open, I have frequently been camped 

 where fifty or sixty elephants were for several days in the same 

 jMjsition within a hundred yards of the tents, and still there was 

 no offensive scent. 



The food of an elephant is always fresh and clean, and the 

 digestive functions are extremely rapid. The mastication is a 

 rough system of grinding, and the single stomach and exceedingly 

 short intestines simplify the process of assimilation. The rapidity 

 of the food passage necessitates a consumption of a large amount, 

 and no less than GOO Ibs. of fodder is the proper daily allowance for 

 an elephant. 



