THROUGH THE MALAY JUNGLE 37 



career madly around after its tail, or a puppy 

 tumble over itself in paroxysms of playfulness ; but 

 have you ever witnessed an elephant at the tender 

 age of six months expressing its uncontainable 

 spirits? I assure you there is nothing more excru- 

 ciatingly funny. To begin with, he suddenly charges 

 a bamboo thicket, butting down great trees as care- 

 lessly as though they were cornstalks; these fall 

 across the way, together with a small avalanche of 

 rotten boughs, placing your life distinctly in jeop- 

 ardy and causing you to wonder anxiously whether 

 in the event of a dearth of bamboo you yourself 

 may not be selected as a substitute. He then tears 

 up a large sapling by the roots, breaks it in pieces, 

 and hurls the bits in every direction, while you 

 vainly attempt to dodge the missiles. Tired of this 

 pastime, you will observe him surreptitiously filling 

 his trunk with the semi-liquid mud by the road- 

 side, which he appears to have swallowed until a 

 sudden carefully aimed jet covers you from head to 

 foot. The next moment he is trotting docilely by his 

 mother's side, his whole being radiating innocence 

 and defying calumny. Perhaps the most amusing 

 episode in our baby's infinite variety of entertain- 

 ment was once when, fording a brook, he slipped on 

 the muddy bank and landed on his back in mid- 

 stream, where he lay with his legs waving absurdly 



