224 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



describable. Their cries of joy, says Mrs. Bowdich, shook 

 the whole building, and they blew air from their trunks 

 resembling the blasts from smiths' bellows. The female moved 

 her ears with great rapidity, and entwined her trunk roimd 

 the body of the male. The male encircled her with his 

 trunk and shed tears. 



^jjQ The sagacity of the elephant has been said 



Elephant's sometimes to equal that of the dog. A striking 

 Sagacity, illustration of it is related in Pettit's work on the 

 Tinnevelly Missions. "While the large chapel at Nagercoil 

 was buflding the missionaries obtained the loan of a trained 

 elephant for drawing the larger timber used in its erection. 

 The late Mrs. Mault kindly saw the animal regularly fed, 

 lest the food should be stolen by the attendant. One day 

 the allowance of rice seemed very deficient in quantity, and 

 the good lady expostulated on the subject with the keeper. 

 Raising his hands to heaven, the man loudly, and with great 

 apparent earnestness and sincerity, repudiated the idea of 

 his having taken any of the rice. 'Do you think, madcim, 

 that I would rob my child? No, never! no more than I 

 would deprive my own children of their daily food. ' While 

 he was speaking and gesticulating, the intelligent creature, 

 slyly extendiag his trunk, imfastened the man's waist-cloth, 

 spilling the missing rice, which had been concealed ia a comer 

 of the cloth, and exposing the dishonesty of the attendant." 

 ^ Some years ago there was an elephant who was 



Oentenarian known to be a hundred years old, named Soup- 

 Elephant, ramany, or Old Soup as he was called, who 

 lived upon the banks of the Ganges near the city of Cawn- 

 pore. On one occasion Old Soup was engaged with a num- 

 ber of other elephants and a party of soldiers, under the 

 direction of Major Daly, in loading a ship with bjigs of rice. 

 While the work was proceeding one of the elephants began 

 to throw the bags into the river, and it was found that the 

 animal had gone mad. Having killed his keeper the elephant 



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