20 The L.ife of an Elephant 



into receptacles in which rice could be cooked 

 on emergency. 



Where civilized man would go naked and 

 hungry, these people lived in comfort, alert 

 and deeply versed in these matters which were 

 of immediate importance to their existence, 

 for it was only through their intimate acquaint- 

 ance with wild nature around them that they 



could hope to overcome the forces arrayed 

 against them. And yet, in the midst of what 

 some might consider ignorance and savagery, 

 there were ample signs of discipline and 

 charity. To one side of the village stood the 

 monastery, built of teak-wood and adorned 

 with artistic carvings, the labour of love of the 

 charitable. Around its courts of well-beaten 

 clay stood fruit-trees carefully tended and 



