THE ELEPHANT. 



II 



mistrust to the keeper, who, pretending surprise 

 at having such an imputation made against him, 

 exclaimed in his native tongue : 



" Madam, do you thinlc I would rob my child?" 

 The Elephant, which was standing by, seemed 

 aware of tlie subject of the conversation, and kept 

 eying the keeper, who had on a bulky waist-cloth; 

 and no sooner had he uttered these words than 

 tlie animal tlirew his trunk round him, and unty- 

 ing the waist-cloth, a quantity of rice fell to the 

 ground. 



An Elephant had been severely wounded, and 

 submitting to liave his wound dressed, used, after 

 two or three times, to go alone to the hospital and 

 extend himself, so that the surgeon could easily 

 reach 'the injured part. Tiiough the pain the ani- 

 mal suffered was so severe that lie often uttered 

 the most plaintive groans, he never interrupted the 

 operation, but exhibited every token of submis- 

 sion to the surgeon, till his cure was effected. 

 Still more curious is the following : 

 A young Elephant wiiich iiad accompanied its 

 mother to tlie battle-field received a severe wound 

 in the head. Nothing could induce it to allow 

 the injury to be attended to. At length, by cer- 

 tain signs and words, the keeper explained to the 

 mother what was wanted. The«sagacious animal 

 immediately seized the young one witli her trunk, 

 and, thougli it groaned with agony, held it to the 

 ground, while the surgeon was thus enabled to 

 dress the wound. Day after day she continued 

 to act in the same way, till the wound was per- 

 fectly healed. 



The ancient Carthaginians used to employ Ele- 

 phants in war. The Romans took a number of 

 these animals prisoners, and used them in fight; 

 but they were very dangerous helps. Hannibal, 

 on one occasion finding the battle long continu- 

 ing doubtful, ordered, says the historian Livy, the 



Elephants to be brought to the front, hoping by 

 their means to frighten the Romans. But Caius 

 Decimius Flavus, a Roman officer, ordered a band 

 of spearmen to follow him to the spot where the 

 Elephants were throwing, all into confusion, and 

 to hurl javelins at the bulky beasts. Every 

 weapon hit, because they were crowded together. 

 They then rushed back in wild affright upon their 

 owners, and killed more of them than the enemy 

 against whom they had been brought. 



Livy adds : 



" As to the Elephants themselves, more were 

 killed by their guides tiian by the enemy. Tliese 

 carried a knife, like that used by shoemakers, 

 with a mallet ; and when the animals began to 

 grow furious, and to rusli on tlieir own party, the 

 manager of eacli, fixing this instrument between 

 his ears, on the joint which connects the head 

 and neck, drove it in with the strongest blow 

 that he could give. This had been found the 

 speediest method of killing animals of that great 

 size, wlien tliey became so unruly as to leave no 

 hope of managing tliem." 



One reason why Elephants are hunted is the 

 value of their tusks. They consist of delicate 

 ivory, which has long been used as an ornament 

 by man. Ivory statues, ivory ornaments for the 

 chimney-piece, crosses, bracelets, brooclies, are 

 common in London and Paris. Dieppe has long 

 been famous for ornaments in ivory. Three hun- 

 dred years ago it was the most flourishing sea-port 

 of France, and one of the first in Europe. 



The illustration admriably represents a drove 

 of Elephants going down to a forest lake -in the 

 tropic noonday for a cooling bath. Standing in 

 tlie water up to their bodies they draw great 

 quantities of it into their trunks and spurt it 

 over their own backs, or those of their neigh- 

 bors. 



