274 NATURAL HISTORY. 



undoubted mention of the Elephant in the Bible relates to the use of ivory, which certainly was 

 employed by the ancient Greeks, Assyrians, and Egyptians early in their history. 



King Solomon had a throne of ivory, which was obtained through the Phoenician traders 

 pi-obably from Africa. " For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish (Cilicia) with the navy of 

 Hiram ; once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, 

 and peacocks " (1 Kings x. 22.) Elephants are also mentioned in 2 Chron. ix. 21 ; and at con- 

 siderable length in the first and second books of Maccabees, where their xise in war is described 

 {1 Mace. vi. 2830 ; 4346). 



The Elephants were used in war also by the Indian nations, and were looked upon as most formid- 

 able engines in battle. By the aid of these huge creatures, to a large extent, they conquered and held 

 possession of the region of Central Asia west of the Indus. 



It appears that the relative force of Elephants in a great army corps was one to each chariot 

 of war, with three horsemen and five archers, the latter being perched on the Elephant's back 

 within a houdah of a defensible nature, denominated a castle, the whole forming what was termed 

 a patti, or squad, comprising altogether not more than eleven men, with the drivers or attendants. 

 This shows that in India, which furnished Elephants and the manner of arming them, only four or 

 five archers, with or without the mahout, or driver, were told off to each animal ; consequently, 

 when the successors of Alexander introduced them in their wars in Syria, Greece, and Italy, 

 they were not encumbered with more than one or two additional persons before a charge. Indeed, 

 considerable trouble appears to have been taken that a war Elephant should not be nearly as heavily 

 laden as one simply used for carrying burdens ; therefore the number of thirty-two soldiers given in 

 Maccabees as seated upon each Elephant must somehow or other be a mistake. These Elephants were 

 well trained, and taught to hold out one of their hind legs horizontally, when it was necessary to 

 mount them in a hurry. They appeared to take considerable delight and satisfaction in the gaudy 

 trappings with which they were usually decorated. In some cases, Elephants have proved more 

 dangerous to the army in whose ranks they were serving than to the enemy, by being suddenly 

 confronted with objects previously unobserved. On such occasions they turn in haste, and spread 

 terror and death into their own ranks. Careful, judicious, and long-continued training was the only 

 remedy against these sudden surprises. 



African Elephants probably were never so well trained and subdued as the Indian ; nevertheless, 

 they were used by the Carthaginians in the first Punic War (264-241 B.C.) with much success, and 

 to the discomfiture of the Romans. In the second Punic War (218-216 B.C.) Hannibal performed 

 the most astounding and remarkable feats of crossing the Pyrenees, making his way through Gaul, 

 crossing the Alps with thirty-seven Elephants, and defeating the Romans at the Ticinus. Most of the 

 Elephants, however, died shortly afterwards from the excessive coldness of the weather and the 

 fatigue they had undergone. "Various accounts are given in Roman history regarding the manner in. 

 which the Elephants crossed the Rhone. One story goes that they wei-e assembled together on the 

 bank, and the fiercest of them being provoked by his keeper, pursued him as he swam across the 

 water, to which he had run for refuge, and that the rest of the herd followed. There is, however, 

 more reason to believe that they were conveyed across on rafts. It is said that one raft two hundred 

 feet long and fifty broad was extended from the bank to the river, and was then secured higher up by 

 several strong cables to the bank, that it might not be carried down by the stream. The soldiers then 

 covered it over with earth, so that the animals might tread upon it without fear, as on solid ground. 

 Another I'affc one hundred feet long, and of the same breadth as the other, was joined to this first. The 

 Elephants were driven along the stationary raft as along a road, and then, the females leading the 

 way, passed on to the other raft, which was fastened to it by lashings. This, on being cut, was drawn 

 by boats to the opposite shore. The Elephants gave no signs whatever of alarm, while they were 

 driven along as it were on a continuous bridge; but a few became infuriated when the raft was 

 let loose, and fell into the river, finding their way, however, safely to the shore. 



The trappings and armour of a war Elephant have been described by the author of the " Ayeen 

 Akbery " as follows : " Five plates of iron, each one cubit long and four fingers broad, are joined 

 together by rings, and fastened round the ears of the Elephant by four chains, each an ell in length ; 

 and betwixt these another chain passes over the head, and is secured beneath; and across it are 





