214 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



gentleman who occupies the coffin must wear a 

 happy and cheerful smile, even though the usually 

 indispensable cheroot has, through force of circum- 

 stances, to be omitted. 



In Rangoon there are two things which, above 

 all, interest the traveller: first, the working ele- 

 phants "a-pilin' teak, in the sludgy, squdgy creek," 

 only in Rangoon one finds them laboring in a 

 neat and conventional lumber-yard, with no ap- 

 preciable "squdginess" in evidence; and secondly, 

 the Shwe Dagon Pagoda. The elephants are good 

 and conscientious workers; they drag great logs 

 across the yards with their trunks, logs which from 

 their size it would seem could be moved only by a 

 steam-crane, and stack them in piles, observing with 

 a trained eye the neatness of the rows, and butting 

 projecting beams into place so as to be flush with 

 the others. The labor, being purely mechanical, 

 does not seem to demand a very high degree of in- 

 telligence, though the clever training of the brutes 

 must be acknowledged. Where they actually do 

 show their discernment is when the hour for the 

 noon-day rest arrives : all work is promptly dropped, 

 even though a log may be but half-way across the 

 yard, and off they troop to lunch, oblivious of the 

 mahout's imprecations and ankus-digs ; returning 

 faithfully to their task at the appointed time. As 



