INTRODUCTION 



'T^HERE are three animals which have 

 responded in a superlative degree to 

 attempts to make them the servants and friends 

 of man the horse, the dog and the elephant ; 

 the two former are found in more or less 

 domestic intimacy all over the world ; the dog 

 having the advantage that his size enables him 

 in all climates to be companionable ; while, in 

 those countries only where it is possible to live 

 a life in the open, the horse has an almost 

 equal chance in this respect. The bulk of the 

 elephant, on the other hand, is destructive of 

 familiarity ; it is not everyone who can main- 

 tain a stud, or even one of these animals, so 

 that those who have passed many years in 

 their company are few compared with the 

 owners of dogs and horses. All the more 

 reason, then, that the elephant in his aspect 



