AARON AND ELISHEBA 1 59 



to tear her up ; but if the cow turned suddenly towards 

 him, the little fraud would run to me, grasp my leg, and 

 scream with fright. The cow was afraid of a man, and as 

 long as she was followed by one she would continue to 

 go ; but when she discovered the ape to be alone in the 

 pursuit, she would turn and look as if trying to deter- 

 mine what manner of thing it was. Elisheba never seemed 

 to take any special notice of the cow except when she 

 approached too near the cage, and then it was due to the 

 conduct of Aaron that she made any fuss about it. 



On board the steamer in which we sailed for home there 

 was a young elephant that had been sent by a trader, for 

 sale. He was kept on deck in a strong stall built for his 

 quarters. There were wide cracks between the boards, 

 and the elephant had the habit of reaching his trunk 

 through them in search of anything he might find. With 

 his long, flexible proboscis extended, he would twist and 

 coil it in all manner of writhing forms. This was the 

 crowning terror of the lives of those two apes ; it was the 

 bogie-man of their existence, and nothing could induce 

 either of them to go near it. If they saw me approach it, 

 they would scream and yell until I came away. If Aaron 

 could get hold of me without getting too near the elephant, 

 he clung to me until he almost tore my clothes, to keep 

 me away from it. It was the one thing that Elisheba was 

 afraid of, and the only one against which she ever gave me 

 warning. 



They did not manifest the same concern for others, but 

 sat watching them without offering any protest. Even the 

 stowaway who fed them and attended to their cage was 



