OUR BACKYARD CIRCUS 129 



trunks; and the mother was giving a bath to her 

 baby. After the infant was bathed and dried in the 

 sun, he made for his mother's udder, and nursed 

 away, both mother and child as happy as you please. 

 The old bull walked bravely about, raising his trunk 

 and stripping the buds from the trees. Now and 

 then he uprooted a sapling, much as a boy leaps over 

 a gate from sheer joy of living or to show his strength. 

 It was altogether a happy family party. 



Often on the plains the light is not favorable, for 

 the heat waves, which amateurs mistake for light, 

 prevent clarity. But here conditions were excellent. 

 Osa, too, had taken pains to get to the windward 

 of the elephants, not always an easy task where the 

 breezes curl and eddy through the dongas. Now she 

 asked her boy to hand over the camera, her eye still 

 on the happy group, determined to surprise me with 

 an imusual picture. But when she looked down at 

 the black leather case which she supposed to be a 

 camera, she discovered to her horror that she had 

 brought our medicine case along instead of the 

 Graflex. She spent two hours that evening telling 

 me what a beautiful picture she might have had. 



One thing I often noticed about elephants was 

 what seemed to be a sort of mental telepathy that 

 went on between them. I have seen this sort of 

 thing so many times that I have wondered if it were 

 possible there could be some sort of wireless oper- 



