32 The Life of an Elephant 



and this fact, perhaps, rendered it easier for 

 man to take toll of the herd from time to 

 time. 



For in this country the elephant was valuable 

 as a slave ; in his youth he could convey his 

 master across the pathless swamps, and as he 

 became stronger he could carry loads 

 of unhusked rice from the homestead 

 to the waterways ; when mature he 

 could assist in drawing timber to the 



oo o 



streams, and in relieving the jams of 

 floating logs caused by the violence 

 of the monsoon floods ; and, if he 

 developed into a heavy animal with perfect 

 tusks, he could be employed in the timber 

 yards to carry or move logs of tons in weight, 

 and might even later on be selected to bear 

 in procession or on shooting trips those whom 

 men permit to be rulers over them. And 

 all this service was exacted in return for 

 simple board and lodging, which in youth cost 

 nothing, and later on a sum, if insignificant, 

 yet given grudgingly, solely for the purpose 

 of maintaining the health and physique of 



