324 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCEJTY, Vol. XL 



deep water, the whole body is immersed ; only the end of the trunk is kept 

 above water. 



Value of Elephants. — In a country like Burma the great value of these 

 creatures can readily be appreciated, large areas being covered with dense 

 impenetrable jungle, immense marshy tracts, steep hills and deep ravines ; 

 added to which the whole country is intersected by rivers, large and small. 

 In the absence of waterway in a place such as described, elephants are more 

 than useful - they are indispensable ; they can with ease penetrate the dense 

 and pathless jungle, their great size and weight causes them to leave a very 

 fair track as they move along ; they can cross wide rivers, ford fast-running 

 streams, carry men and baggage across swamps and heavy marshes penetrable 

 to no other kind of transport animal. The value of an animal for transport 

 purposes possessed of such strength and docility cannot be over-estimated. 



In Burma elephants are largely employed in the timber trade ; in fact, the 

 great commerce carried on in this line may be said to depend almost entirely 

 on elephant-labour. The timber being scattered over wide areas of country 

 without roads or slips, the logs have to be dragged by elephants through 

 the jungle, over ridges, down ravines, and finally pushed into the floating 

 streams, when, owing to the immense strength of these animals, they can 

 stand in the strong current and sort the timber for rafting, clear it when 

 the logs get jammed, and push them back into the water when stranded. In 

 the large timber yards in Eangoon, Moulmain, etc., they have to haul the 

 logs out of the river, bring them up to the sawbench, and after they are 

 heaped, the elephants remove and stack them as neatly as if done by human 

 hands, and in all these operations they are cheap and most efficient. It is 

 quite one of the sights in Burma to see the timber-yard animals at work. 



Powers of Endurance. — Though such enormous creatures, they are con- 

 stitutionally delicate. I fear that, through lack of appreciation of this 

 fact, these animals have not received the amount of attention they justly 

 deserve ; and owing to the popular opinion that they are very strong, they 

 have been too highly tasked. A great deal of the ill-health and mortality 

 amongst elephants may well be ascribed to this cause. It cannot be too 

 forcibly impressed on those persons entrusted with the care of public animals 

 that untiring and vigilant superintendence over the attendants is the means, 

 above all others, for the proper preservation of the efficiency of the animals 

 committed to their charge. They must remember that the class of men 

 usually employed with transport, if left to themselves, are, from general 

 indolence, carelessness, or from a desire to avoid the fatigue and hardships of 

 a campaign, quite liable to render their animals unserviceable. Ample super- 

 vision enables the carrying out of systematic checks against carelessness, and 

 still more of checks to malpractices. A little neglect will often deprive a force 

 of the valuable services of many animals. 



