172 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
The successor of this prince has by no means fol- 
lowed in his father’s steps. Having ventured to put 
himself in hostile array against a power which no 
native force has yet been able successfully to oppose, 
he has lost his principality, and is now a state-pri- 
soner, his possessions having fallen into the hands of 
the East India Company. The present Rajah and the 
interesting boy mentioned by Captain Basil Hall in 
his visit to the Coorg district, are identical. That 
boy, in his manhood, has shown himself to be a cruel 
tyrant, and in his reverse of fortune we can follow 
him neither with our respect nor with our sympathies. 
I cannot forbear mentioning here a circumstance which 
took place when he quitted his capital a prisoner : it was 
related to me by an eyewitness, as a marvellous proof 
of animal sagacity. The Rajah had an extensive stud 
of fine elephants, among which was one that had been 
in the habit of carrying a taper before the prince when 
he retired to rest, and of performing various domes- 
tic offices. When the royal Coorg quitted the town, 
this elephant approached the palenkeen in which its 
master was reclining, fell upon its knees, made several 
salaams, exhibiting every token of the profoundest 
respect, and appearing to feel acutely its sovereign’s 
disgrace. This is not all : — the poor beast, after the 
Rajah’s departure, began to pine, and when my in- 
formant quitted the country was reduced to a state of 
deplorable infirmity ; by this time it has more than 
probably ceased to exist. The attachment of these 
creatures, where they are kindly treated, frequently 
puts human friendships and human attachments to 
shame. 
