ii THE ELEPHANT 23 



There have been frequent discussions upon the important sub- 

 ject of elephant-feeding. Mr. G. P. Sanderson, the superintendent 

 of the keddah department in Assam, has declared against the 

 necessity of allowing a ration of grain in addition to the usual 

 fodder. This must naturally depend upon the quality of the green 

 food. If the locality abounds in plantains, the stems of those 

 plants are eagerly devoured, and every portion except the outside 

 rind is nourishing. Even then the waste is excessive should the 

 stems be heedlessly thrown down before the animal. It will 

 immediately proceed to strip long fibrous ribbons from the stem by 

 placing one foot upon the extremity, and then tearing off the 

 alternate layers like the skin of an onion. These it converts into 

 playthings, throwing them over its back and neck until it is dressed 

 in dangling necklaces, which by degrees, after serving as toys, are 

 ultimately devoured. The proper method of feeding an elephant 

 with plantains where an allowance of rice is added, is by splitting 

 the entire stem through the centre, and then cutting it into 

 transverse sections about two feet in length. As each layer is 

 detached, it resembles a delicately coloured trough, nearly white ; 

 this is doubled up in the centre and it at once forms a hollow tube, 

 similar to a very thick drain tile. A handful of rice is placed 

 within, and it is secured by tying with a fibrous strip from the 

 plantain stem. A large pile of these neat packages is prepared for 

 every elephant, and, when ready, the mahout sits by the heap and 

 hands the parcels one by one to the ever-expectant trunk. 



The delicacy of an elephant's palate is extraordinary, and the 

 whims of the creature are absurd in the selection or rejection of 

 morsels which it prefers or dislikes. I once saw a peculiar instance 

 of this in an elephant that belonged to the police at Dhubri on the 

 Brahmaputra. This animal had a large allowance of rice, there- 

 fore about three-quarters of a pound were placed within each tube 

 of plantain stem. A lady offered the elephant, when being fed, a 

 very small sweet biscuit, about an inch and a half in diameter. 

 This was accepted in the trunk, but almost immediately rejected 

 and thrown upon the ground. The mahout, fearing that his 

 elephant had behaved rudely in thus refusing a present from a 

 lady's hand, picked up the biscuit and inserted it in the next 

 parcel of rice and plantain stem. This was placed within the 

 elephant's mouth. At the first crunch the animal showed evident 

 signs of disgust, and at once spat out the whole of the contents. 

 There lay a complete ruin of the neat package, which had been 

 burst by the power of the great jaws ; but among the scattered rice 

 that had been ejected we perceived the biscuit which had caused 



