84 BAD POINTS. 



Meergas ; and the points of these breeds (if they may be so called) do not 

 amount to permanent, or even hereditary, variation. Whole herds frequently 

 consist of Dwasalas, but never of Koomeriahs or Meergas alone ; these I have- 

 found occur respectively in the proportion of from ten to fifteen per cent 

 amongst ordinary elephants. 



The Koomeriah, or thorough-bred, takes the first place ; he alone can 

 reach extreme excellence, but all the points required for perfection are very 

 rarely found in one individual. He is amongst elephants what the thorough- 

 bred is amongst horses, saving that his is natural, not cultivated, superiority. 

 The points of the Koomeriah are : Barrel deep, and of great girth ; legs- 

 short (especially the hind ones) and colossal, the front pair convex on the 

 front side from the development of muscle ; back straight and flat, but slop- 

 ing from shoulder to tail, as an upstanding elephant must be high in front ; 

 head and chest massive ; neck thick and short ; trunk broad at the base and 

 proportionately heavy throughout ; bump between the eyes prominent ; 

 cheeks full ; the eye full, bright, and kindly ; hind-quarters square and 

 plump ; the skin rumpled, thick, inclining to folds at the root of the tail, 

 and soft. If the face, base of trunk, and ears, be blotched with cream-col- 

 oured markings, the animal's value is enhanced thereby. The tail must be 

 long, but not touch the ground, and be well feathered. 



The illustration represents a first-class Koomeriah, and is from a photo- 

 graph of an animal captured in the kheddahs in Cliittagong whilst I was 

 in charge. This elephant was probably sixty years of age when captured. 

 His height was 9 feet 2 inches (vertical) at the shoulder. He exhibited 

 the magnanimous and urbane temperament common to these first-class 

 animals, and was easily managed a few days after capture. He was 

 designed for the Viceregal State howdah, being the finest elephant cap- 

 tured in Bengal for many years ; but he died after I left Dacca — from what 

 cause I have not learnt. 



The Dwasala class comprises all animals below this standard, but which 

 do not present such marked imperfection as to cause them to rank as 

 Meergas, or third-rates ; all ordinary elephants (about seventy per cent) are 

 Dwasalas. 



A pronounced Meerga is the opposite to the Koomeriah. He is leggy, 

 lank, and weedy, with an arched, sharp-ridged back, difficult to load, and 

 liable to galling ; his trunk is thin, flabby, and pendulous ; his neck long 

 and lean ; he falls off behind ; and his hide is thin. His head is small, 

 which is a bad point in any elephant ; his eye is piggish and restless. His 

 whole appearance is unthrifty, and no feeding or care makes him look fat. 

 The Meerga, however, has his uses ; from his length of leg and lightness he 



