Ciiap. II. 
of the East Indies. 
Plutarch tells us fomething of the like Kind, that hap- 
pened at the Time the City of Argos was taken by Storm, 
by Pyrrhus : A Soldier of his, mounted on an Elephant, 
having received a dangerous Wound, fell from his Back 
upon the Ground. The Creature, fenfible of the Accident, 
fcattered with his Trunk all that were about him, till he 
found his Matter ; and then lifted him gently upon his 
Fore-teeth, and, returning to the Gate by which they had 
entered, overturned, without Mercy, all that ftood in his 
Way 3 . 
But if thefe Creatures were valuable, on account of their 
Fidelity and i ra6lablenels, they were no lefs ferviceable 
by their Courage and Strength : They were difciplined for 
War, and placed either in the Front, or in one of the 
Wings, in a general Engagement; and as foon as the 
Signal was given, either by the Sound of Trumpets, or by 
the Sight of Blood, for which Elephants have a natural 
Abhorrence, they rulhed on the Enemy with incredible 
Violence, overturning whole Battalions,, and fpreading 
T erroi, Comufion, and Death, where-ever they came. 
The Smeh and Cry of the Jilephants was enough to ditt 
able the Enemies Cavalry from abting, the belt Horfes 
flying on their Approach, and running out of the Field, in 
fpite of all that could be done to reftrain them. C re far had 
but one in his Army, and yet it proved fuflicient to pro- 
cure him Vidtory over the Gauls b . 
The Ufe ol thefe Creatures in War was common 
; amongft the P erfians and the Syrians ; and it was from 
them the Romans learned the Ufe of them, which they im- 
proved very much. Sometimes they did not truft indrely 
to the Force of the Elephants, but erebted Towers upon 
their Backs ; from whence their Archers fought with great 
Advantage. Antiochus Eupator c , when he invaded Ju- 
i dea , had thirty ttich Elephants in his Army ; on each of 
which thirty-two Men fought in a Tower; while an Indian 
who fat before, conduced the Elephant. 
The Indians themfelves, ufed them in fomewhat a dif- 
ferent manner, and, perhaps, with greater Advantages than 
other Nations ; for they made them always the firft Line 
of the Army, their^Foot being drawn up behind them, as 
i if they were intrenched. There was a Space of about one 
i hundred Yards left, from one Elephant to another, thro’ 
' which tneir Infantry might fafely advance, and retire : But 
dt was impoffible for the Enemy to penetrate thro’ thofe 
Intervals, in order to begin the Attack. The Elephants 
of Porus , to the Number of two hundred, were thus 
ranged in the front Line, when he was attacked by Alex - 
] andtf the Gieat . And it was owing to the long Spears of 
tne Macedonians , and to the invincible Strength of their 
Phalanx, that the Elephants could not bear them down • 
■ which decided the Fate of the Day : For the Indians , being 
ctefpiuted at a oight which they had never beheld before, 
began to think theie People were invincible ; and, therefore’ 
could not be brought to return again to the Charge, any 
1 more than the Elephants ; for it is the Nature of thefe 
.Creatures, when once beaten, to turn upon thofe behind 
.them d . 
4. The Romans frequently produced them in Shews 
and on their Amphitheatres. It was in the Year 65/ 
after the building that City, that thisSpedacle appeared for 
the firft time. They were then oppofed to Bulls ; but 
they were afterwards brought to fight with Men. When 
Pompey, in his fecond Confulfhip, dedicated the Temple 
of lenus,' he exhibited twenty Elephants, which were to 
fight againft a I roop of Getulians , who were a People of 
Africa , equally remarkable for their natural Courage, and 
for their military. Skill. This Combat was very fimni- 
'lar, and made a great Impreffion upon the People : For 
one of the Elephants, being fo wounded in the Fore-feet, 
that he could hardly ftand, fell upon his Knees ; and, run- 
nmg in upon the Getulians , tore from them their Shields, 
whicn he threw into the Air with incredible Agility and 
-Moieft ; fo that they fell down, without hurting any of 
Jie spectators. Another Elephant was in this Fight killed 
outright, by an Arrow which fuck through his Eye into 
•i.s ram. - he Elephants, at this Sight, endeavoured to 
461 
burft through ; but, being repulfed, they feemed, with 
heavy Meanings, to befeech the Pity of the People ; who 
were fo much aftebled therewith, that, forgetting the Re- 
fpettt due to Pompey , they began to curfe him, and to wifh 
all thofe Mifchiefs might light upon his Head, which foon 
after fell upon him e . But this did not hinder Caefar the 
Dictator from exhibiting another Shew of Elephants, 
when he brought forth twenty, which were oppofed to five 
hundred Foot: And, finding that the People were ex- 
tremely pleafed with it, he again exhibited twenty Ele- 
phants, with Towers upon their Backs; in each of which 
were fixty Defendants : And to thefe, he oppofed not only 
five hundred Foot, but as many Horfe. The Emperors 
Claudius and Nero cauied fingle Elephants to fight with 
expei ienced Fencers ; with which the Roman People were 
exceedingly delighted. 
It is to be obferved, that, with all their Force, the 
Elephants are far from being cruel ; fo that, unlefs they 
are provoked, they never commit any Violence. We are 
told a very remarkable Paffage, in Support of this natural 
Clertiency of thefe Creatures, which is this : A certain 
King, whofe Name was Bacchus , having deftined thirty 
Perfons, who had offended him, to be torn to Pieces by 
Elephants, they were tied to fo many Potts, and the Ele- 
phants turned loofe upon them, with Soldiers behind, who 
pricked and pufhed them forward, in order to put them in 
a Rage : Which, at laft, they did, but to their own De- 
ftruftion ; for, inftead of attacking the naked anddefence- 
lefs Men, they fell upon thofe who injured them ; and 
could not, by -any means, be rendered the Inftruments of 
this Monarch’s Cruelty. It is further afierted, that, in 
palling through a Flock of Sheep, they feparate them into 
two Lines, with their Trunks, that they may march 
through, without treading or trampling upon them. 
It is fron NPliny alfo, we learn, that a certain noble Ro- 
man^ whofe Name was Mutianus , who had been three 
times Conful, taught an Elephant the Knowledge of the 
Greek • Alphabet ; in which, it is faid, he wrote thefe 
"Words, by placing the Letters in their proper Order, viz. 
Phis I wrote , and dedicated the Celtic Spoils. Another 
gave a manifeft Proof of Memory, by performing in the 
Morning, perfectly, certain LefTons, which he had been 
beat for not performing over Night. Almoft every 
Elephant underftands fo much of the Indian Language as 
concerns him, or he hears from his Keeper ; and fo gentle 
they are, that a Child of twelve or thirteen Years old 
may mount and guide them as he pleafes. 
As extraordinary as thefe Stories may feem, one might 
be almoft tempted to believe them, confidering that Arrian^ 
the moft fincere, the leaft credulous, and, by far, the moll 
authentic Writer of the Life of Alexander the Great, gives 
us the following Story, of his own Knowledge f : I have 
feen, fays he, an Elephant, that had two Cymbals fattened 
to its Fore-legs, upon which it beat, or played, a regular 
Air, with its Trunk ; while others danced about it, with 
their Steps making a regular Cadence. Yet this Animal, 
as gentle and as quiet as he feems to be, gives fometimes 
Proofs of his Memory, by revenging the Injuries he re- 
ceives, at fome Diftance of Fime. One Pittance of which 
we have, from an eminent Writer of the laft Age § ; and 
this too, of his own Knowledge : He was at Macaffar , 
in the Year 1658 ; and tnere faw the King’s Elephant 
patting quietly along, with his Driver upon his Back : But, 
foon after, he returned alone ; which furprifing the 
Company, they began to inquire how it happened, and 
were told, that, the Day before, his Keeper had a Cogoa- 
nut given him, which he threw twice at the Elephant’s 
Head, with all his Force, in order to break it ; and, going 
into the Town, when they faw him pafs by, it fo hap- 
pened, that feme People were felling Cocoa-nuts in the 
street ; and as foon as the Elephant had Sight of them, he 
Latched one out of the Balket with his Trunk, and beat it 
to-pieces about his Rider’s Head ; by which he killed him 
on the Spot. . This, fays my Reverend Author, came of 
jeiting with Elephants. 
a Plutarch, in Pyrrho: 
Pnn. Nat. Hip . lib. viii, cap. 5 . 
N y M b, 32. 
Polyasn. Stratagem, lib. viii. 
t Arrian , in Indicts , cap. 14 . 
6 B 
* 34- d Arrian. Diodor. Sicul. Plutarch. 
£ Navarette' s Hiilory of China, Book vi. chap. 8. 
At 
