Chap. II.] 
THE ELEPHANT. 
91 
Singhalese work which treats of their management, the 
marks of inferior breeding are said to be " eyes restless 
like those of a crow, the hair of the head of mixed 
shades; the face wrinkled; the tongue curved and 
black ; the nails short and green ; the ears small ; the 
neck thin, the skin freckled; the tail without a tuft, 
and the fore-quarter lean and low: " whilst the perfec- 
tion of form and beauty is supposed to consist in the 
te softness of the skin, the red colour of the mouth and 
tongue, the forehead expanded and "hollow, the ears broad 
and rectangular, the trunk broad at the root and 
blotched with pink in front ; the eyes bright and kindly, 
the cheeks large, the neck full, the back level, the chest 
square, the fore legs short and convex in front, the hind 
quarter plump, and five nails on each foot, all smooth, 
polished, and round. 1 An elephant with these perfec- 
tions," says the author of the Sastisilpe, " will impart 
glory and magnificence to the king ; but he cannot be 
discovered amongst thousands, yea, there shall never be 
found an elephant clothed at once with all the excel- 
lences herein described." The " points " of an elephant 
are to be studied with the greatest advantage in those 
attached to the temples, which are always of the 
highest caste, and exhibit the most perfect breeding. 
The colour of the animal's skin in a state of nature is 
generally of a lighter brown than that of those in cap- 
tivity ; a distinction which arises, in all probability, not 
so much from the wild animal's propensity to cover itself 
with mud and dust, as from the superior care which is 
taken in repeatedly bathing the tame ones, and in rub- 
1 A native of rank informed me, pliant will sometimes touch the 
that " the tail of a high-caste ele- ground, but such are very rare." 
