ANIMALS. 17!) 



foi- having performed some painful service ; but l)cing(Iisap])oint- 

 ed of its ex])vctutions, it slew him in a fury. The condtictoi's 

 wife, who was a spectator of this shocking scene, could not re- 

 strain her madness and despair j but running with her two chii- 



digiiity ; for Cardan saw the one belongring to the Queen of Boliemi;*, which 

 was also very sagacious i[i other respects, welcome an archbishop of Milan, 

 upon his bended knees. Such homag^e as this, however agreeable it may bu 

 to human pride, is as worthless as that which Augustus received upon his 

 triumphal entry into Rome, after the battle of Actium, when the parrots 

 from the windows cried out " Honour and victory to Caesar." The 

 conqueior gave enormous prices for these sagacious birds ; but one bird 

 uiduckily forgetting his last lesson, repeated that which he had been 

 taught when the success of Augustus over his great rival was not so sure 

 — " Honour and victory to Antony the I'mperor"— and then Augustus grew 

 tired of his winged flatterers, as he called them,— perhaps without making 

 the discovery that all flatterers are equally conteniptilile. 



The exhibition of M'selle D'Jeck, however it may have been exceeded by 

 the fl'atsof tlie elephants of antiquity, was exceedinglyciu-ious and instructive. 

 The animal took part in the scene with almost undeviating precision ; display- 

 ed no want of confidence or self-possession in the midst of lights, and music, 

 and the shouts of the people ; and made her parting salute with as much 

 giace as if she had Emperors and Popes only to bow to. One of the most 

 curious scenes in which she took a prominent part, was that in wliicli she 

 assisted the e^cape of the Prince and his adherents from prison, by kneeling 

 upon her hind legs, and thus forming an iucliiied plane, upon which her 

 friends might safely reach the grrnind. 



When first brought out upon the stage M'selle D'Jeck would not be led 

 to any ijartirular point, till she had cai-efuily tried the strength of the boards 

 upon which she trod, thrusting her trunk upon every suspicious spot, and 

 slowly and hesitatingly placing her feet in advance, before she moved her 

 body forward. A remarkable example of this instinct is mentionedljyjohnson 

 in his Indian Field Sports : — " An elephant belonging to MrBoddam, of the 

 Bengal civil service at Gyah, used every day to pass over a small bridge, 

 leading from his master's house into the town of Gyah. He oue day refused 

 to go over it, and it was with great diliiculty, by goring him most cruelly 

 M-ith the Itaw/cuss (an iron instrument,) that the mohout (di'iver) coiihl get 

 him to venture on the bridge, the strength of which he first tried with his 

 trunk, showing clearly that he suspected that it was not sufficiently strong. 

 At last he went on, and before he could get over, the bridge gave waj-, and 

 they were precipitated into the ditch, which killed the di-i\er, and consider- 

 ably injured the elephant." 



This instinct which the elephant possesses of trying the strength of any 

 construction, whether natural or artificial, which it is necessary for him to 

 cross, is particularly worthy of observation. When the enormous weight 

 of a full-grown elephant is considered, it must be obvious, that if the crea- 

 ture were rashly to place his body upon any frail sujiport his danger would 

 be extreme. His caution, therefore, in avoiding such an evil is constantly 

 exerci'-ed ; and the powerful as well as delicate instrument of touch \vhich 

 lie possesses enables him always to be convinced of his seciuity, without in- 

 curring any risk under orilinary circuul^tances. The elephant at the Adtlphi 



