336 AROUND THE WORLD VIA INDIA. 



and to eat at the same table. A red cloth-bound book 

 was her invariable silent table companion. It was not 

 a medical book. It must have been either a novel or 

 some occult treatise on fire worship. Of the meeting 

 with this woman I can not say, as of all other mem- 

 bers of the medical profession, that I had the pleasure 

 of meeting on my long journey: 



"Friendship, mysterious cement of the soul. 

 Sweet'ner of life and soldier of society." — Blair. 



A SICK ELEPHANT. 



From Jaipur I made a trip to the old capital city, 

 Anier, its palace and wonderful mountain fortifications, 

 eight miles distant from the present seat of government 

 of Jaipur state. The old city is enclosed by mountain 

 ridges 1,500 to 2,000 feet high, all strongly fortified. 

 The city is now in ruins and nearly deserted. The 

 palace and fortifications are in good repair. It was 

 arranged the evening before that I should go by car- 

 riage as far as the base of the mountain, where an 

 elephant would be in waiting, who would take me over 

 the mountain riclge to the old city, and from there up 

 the steep incline to the palace and fortification. When 

 morning came I was informed that the elephant was 

 sick and that a bullock cart would be sent instead. In 

 making inquiry regarding the elephant's sickness I as- 

 certained that the huge beast, quite old, had for sev- 

 eral vears been sufferino- at intervals from acute attacks 

 of illness. He would fall down suddenly, with great 

 pain. These attacks would last from three to four 

 hours, when he would recover and remain in apparently 

 good health until the next attack. I am quite con- 

 fident that this giant beast is the subject of gallstones 

 of enormous size and that it is only a question of a short 

 time before he will die from a complicating suppura- 

 tive inflammation of the bile ducts. When we came 

 to the foot of the mountain the bullock cart was conspic- 

 uous for its absence. I was determined to see the old 

 city, palace and fortification, and there was no other 



