CHAPTER VIII 



In Training for Sport 



CONTENTMENT in captivity was now 

 the portion of the elephant Maula Bux, 

 for by this time the uniform kindness he ex- 

 perienced had deadened the longing for a wild 

 life, and where there was no toil, there also the 

 desire for liberty did not oppress him. Through- 

 out the day he roamed through the forest, 

 grazing as he went ; at times stopping to pluck 

 some succulent grass or reed, at others breaking 

 off the foliage of such trees as he desired ; 

 gathering here a trunkful of bamboo, and there 

 some fruit fallen in its ripeness. He was 

 scarcely conscious that the mahout sat sleepily 

 on his back, save when, forgetting, he threw 

 dust over his body to keep off the flies, or 

 proposed to pass under some bough, hardly 

 high enough for the comfort of his rider. On 



