152 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIV. 



years I was in charge of the forests in one district where there were over 

 500 tame elephants, belonging to a single timber trading firm, besides num- 

 erov.s herds of wild animals, which I made it my business to observe when- 

 ever I could spare the time. I was then transferred to a district where 

 the same finn (the Bombay-Burma Timber Trading Corporation, Limited) 

 had over 600 animals at work in the forests under my charge, there being 

 also two small herds of wild ones, the whereabouts of which (the district 

 being a fairly well populated one) were always known, it can be seen that 

 I have had exceptional chances of learning a little of their habits, both in 

 a state of semi-domestication as well as in a feral state. My observations 

 if not of value, may be at least of interest. I put them forward with 

 tome diffidence, as I have come to conclusions directly opposed to those 

 formed by such famous authorities as the late Mr. Gr. P. Sanderson and 

 Mr. W. T. Blanford, F.E.S. 



Now both these gentlemen make little of the intelligence of the elephant. 

 I have kept a great number of pets, ranging from porcupines up to hooluks 

 (^Hylohates hoolulc), and, with the exception of the latter, I do not think 

 I have ever been so struck with the intelligence of any animal as I have 

 with that of the elephant. I give examples, which any forest officer in 

 Burma could, I have no doubt, confirm. 



It is common to see an elephant break off a branch with its trunk and 

 use the bit broken to scratch some portion of the body ungetatable by 

 any other means. Again, in a long march I have often ridden on one of 

 the baggage animals passing the time by reading a book, no portion of my 

 body even touching the animal, and there being- no mahout on the neck ; 

 the animal has steadily marched along the narrow forest track, carefully 

 guiding itself in and out of the trees, so that no tree shall strike the bagg- 

 age, and at the same time carefully pulling down and breaking low brancbes 

 which might scrape me off the heaped-up pile of miscellaneous kit. Once 

 I saw a female e'ephant run away. She had attached to her front leg a 

 long tethering chain. On being called on to stop by her attendant, who 

 ran after her and tried to grab the end of the chain trailing behind, she 

 picked the end up with her trunk, so that she should not be hampered by 

 stepping on it, and so that the man also should not be able to seize it, and 

 made off into the jungle. 



These few cases out of many which I could record certainly stem to me 

 to denote great reasoning power. Another point which both the above 

 quoted authorities emphasise is the rarety of the elephant breeding in 

 captivity. The trouble I experienced, in common with other Government 

 forest officers and forest uanagers of timber firms in Burma, is to prevent 

 the female domestic elephants from having calves. It is very inconvenient 

 for a forest officer to find that one, or sometimes both, the baggage animals 

 allowed him by Government are heavy with calf, and have to be put out of 



