82 FALLACIES REGARDING THE TRUNK. 



mahout ; the other had a great aversion to any natives but her own two 

 attendants approaching her. She was, however, perfectly friendly with 

 Europeans, as I used to feed and pet her ; and when engaged at the khed- 

 dahs in Mysore, she was frequently fed by the ladies present. 



The elephant's chief good qualities are obedience, gentleness, and patience. 

 In none of these is he excelled by any domestic animal, and under circum- 

 stances of the greatest discomfort, such as exposure to the sun, painful sur- 

 gical operations, &c., he seldom evinces any irritation. He never refuses to 

 do what he is required, if he understands the nature of the demand, unless 

 it be something of which he is afraid. The elephant is excessively timid, 

 both in its wild and domestic state, and its fears are easily excited by any- 

 thing strange. But many have a good stock of courage, which only requires 

 developing ; the conduct of some elephants used in tiger-hunting demon- 

 strates this. 



Much misapprehension prevails regarding the uses and power of the 

 elephant's trunk. This organ is chiefly used by the animal to procure its 

 food, and to convey it, and water, to its mouth ; also to warn it of danger 

 by the senses of smell and touch. It is a delicate and sensitive organ, and 

 never used for rough work. In any dangerous situation the elephant at 

 once secures it by curling it up. The idea that he can use it for any pur- 

 pose, from picking up a needle to dragging a piece of ordnance from a bog, 

 is, like many others, founded entirely on imagination. An elephant might 

 manage the former feat, though I doubt it ; the latter he would not attempt. 

 Elephants engaged in such work as dragging timber invariably take the rope 

 between their teeth ; they never attempt to pull a heavy weight with the 

 trunk. In carrying a light log they hold it in the mouth as a dog does a 

 stick, receiving some little assistance in balancing it from the trunk. Tusk- 

 ers generally use their tusks for this and similar purposes, and are more 

 valuable than females for work. An elephant is powerful enough to extri- 

 cate a cannon from a difficult situation, but he does it by pushing with his 

 head or feet, or in harness — never by lifting or drawing with his trunk. The 

 story adverted to above, of the elephant lifting the wheel over the prostrate 

 gunner, is a physically impossible one. Elephants do not push with their 

 foreheads, or the region above the eyes, but with the base of the trunk, or 

 snout, about one foot below the eyes. 



An elephant rarely uses its trunk for striking other elephants or man. 

 Newly-caught ones seldom attempt even to seize any one coming within 

 their reach with their trunks ; they curl them up and rush at the intruder. 

 Should any accident happen to an elephant's trunk to prevent it conveying 

 water to its mouth, it drinks by wading into deep water and immersing the 



