REST AND SLEEP. 
31 
till three o'clock in the afternoon during the working season, i.e., 
from about the month of June to the middle or end of February. 
During the hot season the animals are allowed to rest, or at most 
they may be employed for a couple of hours in the morning in shady 
places and where good water and grazing are at hand, so that on 
being released from work they can be set free to eat to their heart's 
desire. In all such matters, however, it only requires common- 
sense and a little intelligent supervision to soon be in a position to 
ascertain the powers of endurance of each animal one may have to 
deal with, as, these powers vary in individual elephants as much as 
in human beings, except that in the former case, when once an 
animal's strength is overtaxed, the evil is less readily remedied 
owing to the difficulty of treatment. 
Paces. 
The only pace of the elephant is a walk ; any increased pace he 
may put on is a fast shuffle. He can neither trot, canter, gallop 
nor jump. A ditch 6 ft. or 7 ft. wide and 6 ft. deep is impass- 
able. A moderately loaded animal can, on a good road, travel three 
miles an hour. 
Rest and Sleep. 
Rest extraordinary comes into question only before and after work 
extraordinary. Sleep in the case of the elephant is confined to a 
very few hours ; generally speaking from about i i P.M. to 3 A.M., 
but often only for a couple of hours. It is of the utmost importance 
that the animal should have his sleep, such as it is, and this will be 
interfered with prejudicially if too frequent night marches or other 
night work be required, or if the feeding hours are too often 
curtailed by long continued work at any period of the day. To 
keep an animal waiting for his fodder on coming off work is already 
mentioned as one of the worst offences of which a mahout can be 
guilty, for by that means the animal's feeding time is wantonly 
subjected to further diminution, and the opportunity for sleep as 
well lessened in proportion. If the animal have not time to 
eat a sufficiency before midnight, it will continue eating all night, 
supposing that enough fodder has been provided. Care should 
be taken to see that the standing selected is on a slope, the 
ground even, free from stones, and that the elephant is allowed 
plenty of room. 
