210 



MAMMALIA. 



[Chap. VII. 



of the Ceylon animal in war. 1 This estimate of the 

 superiority of the elephant of Ceylon, if it ever prevailed 

 in India, was not current there at a very early period ; 

 for in the Ramayana, which is probably the oldest epic 

 in the world, the stud of Dasartha, the king of Ayodhya, 

 was supplied with elephants from the Himalaya and the 

 Vindhya Mountains. 2 I have had no opportunity of test- 

 ing by personal observation the justice of the assumption ; 

 but from all that I have heard of the elephants of the 

 continent, and seen of those of Ceylon, I have reason to 

 conclude that the difference, if not imaginary, is except- 

 ional, and must have arisen in particular and individual 

 instances, from more judicious or elaborate instruction. 



The earliest knowledge of the elephant in Europe 

 and the West, was derived from the conspicuous 

 position assigned to it in the wars of the East : in 

 India, from the remotest antiquity, it formed one of 

 the most picturesque, if not the most effective, features 

 in the armies of the native princes. 3 It is more than 



1 The expression of Ta vernier is 

 to the effect that as compared with all 

 others, the elephants of Ceylon are 

 " plus courageux a la guerre" The 

 rest of the passage is a curiosity: — 



" II faut remarquer ici une chose 

 qu'on aura peut-etre de la peine a 

 croire mais qui est toutefois tres- 

 veritable : c'est que lorsque quelque 

 roi ou quelque seigneur a quelqu'un 

 de ces elephants de Ceylan, et qu'on 

 en amene quelqu' autre des lieux 

 ou les marchands vont les prendre, 

 commed'Achen, de Siam, d'Arakan, 

 de Pegu, du royaume de Boutan, 

 d' Assam, des terres de Cochin et 

 de la coste du Melinde, des que les 

 elephants en voient un de Ceylan, 

 par un instinct de nature, ils lui 

 font la reverence, portant le bout 

 de leur trompe a la terre et la 



relevant. II est vrai que les ele- 

 phants que les grands seigneurs 

 entretiennent, quand on les amene 

 devant eux, pour voir s'ils sont en 

 bon point, font trois fois une espece 

 de reverence avec leur trompe, ce 

 que fai vu souvent; mais ils sont 

 styles a cela, et leurs maitres le 

 leur enseignent de bonne heure." — 

 Les Six Voyages de J.B.Tavernier, 

 lib. iii. ch. 20. 



2 Bamayana, sec. vi. ; Carey 

 and Marshman, i. 105; Fauche, 

 t. i. p. 66. 



3 The only mention of the ele- 

 phant in Sacred History is in the 

 account given in Maccabees of the 

 invasion of Egypt by Antiochus, 

 who entered it 170 B.C., "with 

 chariots and elephants, and horse- 

 men, and a great nmf." — 1 Mace. 



