668 PROBOSCIDEA. 



sooner perceived than it was overcome. The sagacious animals selected 

 two straight pieces of timber, placed one end of each piece on the 

 ground, with the other resting on the top of the pile, so as to form a 

 sliding-way for the next logs ; and, having seen that they were perfectly 

 steady and in a straight line, the four-legged laborers rolled up the slope 

 they had thus formed the six pieces of ebony for the fourth layer on the 

 pile. Not the least amusing part of the performance was, the careful 

 survey of the pile, made by one of the elephants, after placing each log, 

 to ascertain if it were laid perfectly square with the rest." 



A still more striking proof of sagacity exhibited by one of these com- 

 missariat elephants is told : " One evening, while riding in the vicinity 

 of Kandy, my horse evinced some excitement at a noise which ap- 

 proached us in the thick jungle, and which consisted of a repetition of 

 the ejaculation, Urmph ! urmph ! in a hoarse and dissatisfied tone. A turn 

 in the forest explained the mystery, by bringing me face to face with a 

 tame elephant, unaccompanied by any attendant. He was laboring pain- 

 fully to carry a heavy beam of timber, which he balanced across his 

 tusks, but the pathway being narrow, he was forced to bend his head to 

 one side to permit it to pass endways ; and the exertion and incon- 

 venience combined, led him to utter the dissatisfied sounds which dis- 

 turbed the composure of my horse. 



" On seeing us halt, the elephant raised his head, reconnoitred us for 

 a moment, then flung down the timber, and forced himself backward 

 among the brushwood, so as to leave a passage, of which he expected us 

 to avail ourselves. My horse still hesitated : the elephant observed, and 

 impatiently thrust himself still deeper into the jungle, repeating his cry 

 of urmph! but in a voice evidently meant to encourage us to come on. 

 Still the horse trembled ; and, anxious to observe the instinct of the two 

 sagacious creatures, I forbore any interference : again the elephant 

 wedged himself farther in among the trees, and waited impatiently for 

 us to pass him, and after the horse had done so, tremblingly and timidly, 

 I saw the wise creature stoop and take up his heavy burden, turn and 

 balance it on his tusks, and resume his route, hoarsely snorting, as before, 

 his discontented remonstrance." 



The working elephant is not so valuable for certain kinds of work as 

 has been supposed. In the unopened districts they are useful for carry- 

 ing stores, and constructing bridges. But in more civilized districts, 

 where the roads permit the use of horses and oxen, their services may 



