126 MAMMALIA. 



Asia. Its strength is about five times that of the Camel. In its 

 wild state, the Indian Elephant is believed to attain to the age of 

 two himdred j'ears ; but it rarely is so long lived in a state of 

 captivity. In war they are employed for carrying the sick, and 

 camp equipage. The English in India harness them in their 

 artillery trains. Moreover, the proprietors of large cultivated 

 plains, in certain parts of India, have succeeded in making them 

 draw ploughs. Never did a more monstrous beast of draught turn 

 up the earth with a ploughshare. A ploughing Elephant does the 

 work of thirty oxen. 



Without the presence of nimierous Elephants to grace it, no 

 public fete in most parts of India is considered complete. It 

 always figures in the suite of princes, and state processions. 



It is especialljr useful for carrying sportsmen on its back in 

 Tiger hunting, and, if need be, for defending them against it, 

 when this terrible animal turns to bay. 



Van C)rlich, a naturalist who travelled much, has described the 

 singular feeling of siu'prise he experienced when he rode for 

 the first time on the back of an Elephant. A cushion stuffed 

 with hair is placed on the back of the animal ; over the cushion 

 is thrown a long drapery of red cloth embroidered with gold, 

 which hangs down on each side of the Elephant ; on this drapery 

 is fixed, with girths, a seat made to contain two persons and their 

 suite. The guide, or mahout, sits on the neck of the beast, behind 

 its ears, and directed its movements with an iron fork, of which 

 one of the prongs is bent round. The motion is sometimes plea- 

 sant, sometimes fatiguing. At times the pace was so rapid that 

 a man on horseback could with difiiculty keep up. But this 

 pace lasted a very short time, and the animal only did his twenty- 

 four miles a day. 



The Asiatic Elephant has been trained for domestic and 

 military use for many ages. In the wars which took place 

 between the peojDles of Southern Asia, these animals were loaded 

 with towers occupied bj' men armed with arrows, slings, or 

 javelins. The first armies which had Elephants in their train 

 were everj^where victorious. The sight alone of them equipped 

 for war, struck the battalions with terror. The Romans were 

 greatlj' alarmed when, in their campaigns against Pyrrhus, 

 thej^ saw for the first time these living machines. They learned, 



