Ixiv 



and such like — and is said to have an unconquerable dislike for 

 poultry. He is apt to he boisterously playful at times and by a 

 suddenbroadside charge at a laden elephant to send him sprawl- 

 ing on the ground. 



We may state in Sdmmaey. 



I. The elephant as an actual weight bearer is most valuable. 

 II. He is very difficult to feed, therefore, but few can be al- 

 lowed to the Front on service. 

 Ill, But a few are very useful there to assist guns and other 

 heavy draught over awkward places — whether sandy, 

 muddy, or narrow. 

 IV. In siege trains, for slow draught movement of heavy guns, 

 for carriage of scaling ladders, &c., &c., elephants legi- 

 timately find a place. 

 V. At the Base, and along the line of communications, where 

 they can easily feed and are not exposed to attack or 

 capture, elephants are a most useful means for the trans- 

 port of heavy baggage, stores, and munitions of war. 

 In this respect they are an excellent substitute for wheel- 

 ed transport if roads be impracticable for the latter. But 

 they cannot advantageously replace carts and waggons 

 or Traction Engines when the roads are fit for draught. 

 VI. Tbe spread of Railways and metalled roads lessens the 

 need for Elephant Transport — but in unopened jungly 

 country the elephant is invaluable for Commissariat pur- 

 poses. Thus wherever there is a want of good roads from 

 the base the Elephant finds his proper place as an animal 

 of Transport, he is there more useful than any other ani- 

 mal, and will to an important extent compensate for the 

 impracticability of wheeled transport. 

 VII. To Engineers the elephant proves most useful for shifting 

 heavy guns, for moving heavy beams, and other weighty 

 articles, in throwing down walls and in various other 

 ways. I 



VIII. Once the elephant acted the part of Artillery in War — 

 breaking up compact masses of Infantry at once by the 

 weight of its charge and by the dread its appearance 

 gave rise to. It is now used at ihe front for artillery 

 purposes only in carrying small guns, or in drawing 

 those of Heavy Field Batteries. 



