S THE ELEPHANT. 



the fun and moon, the ufe of ablution before 

 worfhip, a fpirit of divination, piety towards hea- 

 ven and their fellow-creatures, whom they af- 

 fift at the approach of death, and, after their 

 deceafe, bedew them with tears, cover them with 

 earth, &c. The Indians, prejudiced with the 

 notion of the metempfycofis or tranfmigration of 

 fouls, are (till perfuaded, that a body fo majePiic 

 as that of the elephant mull be animated with 

 the foul of a great man or a king. In Siam *, 



Laos, 



fublime tollere, ut fufpi^ere, et leviter ramos movere, tan- 

 quam fupp.icium quoddam Deae protcndentes, ut ipiis pro- 

 pria et benevola effe vellit ; Mian, lib. 4. cap, 10. — Elephas 

 eft animal proximum humanis fenfibus Quippe intel- 

 lects illis fermonis patrii et impcriorum obedientia, officio- 

 rumque, quae didicere, memoria, amoris et gloriae voluptas : 

 Imo vero, quae etiam in homine rara, probitas, prudentia, 

 aequitas, religio quoque fiderum, folifque ac lunae veneratio. 

 Autores funt, nitefcente luna nova, greges eorum defcendere ; 

 ibique fe puriricantes folenniter aqua circumfpergi, atque, ita 

 folutato fidere, in iilvas reverti. • . . Vifique funt feffi ae- 

 gritudine, herbas fupini in coelum jacentes, veluti tellure 

 precibus allegata ; Ptin. Hijl. Nat. lib. 8. cap. I. — Se abluunt 

 ct purificant, dein adorant iblem ct lunam. — Cadavera fui 

 generis fepeliunt. — Lamentant, ramos et pulverem injiciunt 

 fupra cadaver. — Sagittas extrahunt tanquam Chirurgi periti ; 

 Plin Milan. Solin. Tzetzes, 6"c. 



• M. Conitance conducted the ambaiTador to fee the white 

 elephant which is fo efteemed in India, and has given rife to 

 fo many wars. He is very fmall, and fo old, that he is all 

 wrinkled. Several mandarins are appointed to take care of 

 him, and his victuals are ferved up to him in large golden 

 veflels. His apartment is magnificent, and the infide of it is 

 handfomely gilded ; Premier voyage da P. Tachardy p. 239. In 

 a country-houfe belonging to the king, fituated upon the 

 river about a league from Siaro, I faw a fmall white ele- 

 phant, 



