n6 The Life of an Elephant 



of training, when he would stand absolutely still 

 in the midst of confusion and uproar, advance 

 or retreat without hesitation, in short, sacrifice 

 his identity to his master, and become but a 

 dirigible tower which could follow the jungle 

 tribes into their fastnesses and attack them in 

 places where man would be helpless before 

 them. 



From one indignity his size and value pre- 

 served him. He was not made to carry home 

 the spoils of the chase ; the intense repugnance 



of wild herbivorous 

 animals to blood and 

 death is most marked 

 in the elephant, and 

 it is a sore trial to 

 them to be laden with 

 the carcasses of the 

 slain, to have their 

 hides crimson with 

 blood, to be followed by swarms of eager 

 insects. And even when washed clean from 

 the taint, the harness yet remains unpurified, 

 and forever to these sensitive nostrils is 



