ElepJtantiana. 171 



A short time ago, one of these elephants was un- 

 expectedly seized with madness. 



lie begr.'i by trampling to death five of his atten 

 clants, and then broke away from all control. As he 

 was a sacred being, he might not be destroyed nor 

 even injured. By direction of the high priest a fence 

 of consecrated bamboos was hastily set up round 

 him, but he made short work of the bamboos, and 

 the high priest himself had a narrow escape of his 

 life. 



" His Sublime Grandeur " then fortunately made 

 his way into a court of his palace, where he could be 

 barred in. Just as a cat does during a fit, the 

 elephant dashed himself furiously against the walls, 

 trying to batter them down with his tusks, and at 

 last inflicted such injuries on himself that he fell 

 dead. 



Now it would have been much kinder to His Sub- 

 lime Grandeur if his attendants could have placed 

 him under control during the period of his madness. 

 It would not have lasted for any length of time, and 

 the animal might now have been enjoying the 

 luxuries of his royal home, and the king and court 

 of Siam would not be wearing the garb of woe. 



That semi-worship should be offered to an elephant 

 in Siam, may seem absurd enough to us in England. 

 But really, when we recall the history of the great 

 African elephant " Jumbo," I do not think that we 

 can fairly laugh at the Siamese. The strangest part 

 of the Jumbo-worship is, that it sprang up like a 

 mushroom, in a single day. 



There were four elephants in the Zoological 

 Gardens, two from Africa, and two from India, the 

 latter having been brought by the Prince of Wales 

 after his tour in India, in 1875-6. Of the two 

 African specimens, the male, named "Jumbo," was 



