22 Wild Beasts 



still, and he did so. Of course this animal possessed 

 unusual nerve, but what else did he have ? The high 

 sense of duty Professor Robinson has discovered ; heroic 

 self-sacrifice that kept him, like the unrelieved Roman 

 sentinels at Pompeii, on his post to the last ? There is 

 just the same reason for thinking so as there is for giving 

 to the riderless horses who galloped with the Light Bri- 

 gade towards the Russian guns at Balaklava, the senti- 

 ments of those soldiers who made that gallant but useless 

 charge. 



So it is with all instances of a like character. There 

 are many more accounts of the elephant's cowardice than 

 of its courage, and it is notoriously untrustworthy in war. 

 Some are braver than others, but as soon as we attempt to 

 find out from the literature of this subject which are the 

 bravest, young or old, male or female, trained or un- 

 trained, wild or tame, hopelessly contradictory state- 

 ments crowd upon us from all sides. The highest, the 

 most complete, the severest discipline this beast receives 

 is in the hunting-field, and Colonel MacMaster expresses 

 the general tenor of opinion upon its results in saying, " I 

 have never known an elephant who could be depended 

 upon for dangerous shooting." As a class these animals 

 are liable to panic, easily confused, and often become im- 

 becile on account of nervous agitation. It is not uncom- 

 mon to see a tusker fly screaming with fear from the skin 

 of a tiger which he has seen taken off, or to have him 

 bolt from its dead body when that is instantly recognized 

 as harmless by the jungle crow, pea-fowl, or monkey. 

 Being extremely afraid of bears for some unknown reason, 



