OF THE BRUTE CREATION. 
661 
at Exeter Change, attained to the practice of a curious trick, which 
by repetition he might be said to have acquired. It is the usual 
part of the performances of an elephant at a public exhibition to pick 
up a piece of coin, thrown within his reach for the purpose, with the 
finger-like appendage at the extremity of the trunk. On one occa- 
sion a sixpence was thrown down, which happened to roll a little 
out of the reach of the animal, and not far from the wall. Being de- 
sired to pick it up, he stretched out his proboscis several times in 
order to reach it : he then stood motionless for a few seconds, evi- 
dently considering — we have no hesitation in saying , evidently con- 
sidering — how to act; he then stretched his proboscis in a straight 
line, as far as he could, at a little distance above the coin, and blew 
with great force against the wall. The angle produced by the op- 
position of the wall made the current of air act upon the coin as 
he evidently intended and anticipated it would, and it was curious 
to observe the sixpence “ travelling by these means towards the 
animal, till it came within his reach*.” This complicated calcula- 
tion of natural means at his disposal was an intellectual effort be- 
yond what a vast number of human beings would ever have thought 
of, and would be considered as a lucky thought, a clever expedient, 
under similar circumstances, in a man. It was an action perfectly 
indifferent, and had no relation to instinct. 
At the risk of tiring my readers, I will relate another anecdote 
of the elephant, which will plainly shew that reason is not the ex- 
clusive prerogative of man, — that man is not the only rational 
creature. This is an instance of wonderful sagacity and tracta- 
bility which occurred in the stud belonging to the Mogul Emperor, 
whose elephants, besides their daily provender of grass, fresh- 
gathered leaves, and vegetables, were fed with balls, called mos- 
saulla, composed of flour, spices, sugar, and butter, ingredients 
generally expensive, especially in a camp where every thing was 
extravagantly dear. A vegetable diet, and about thirty pounds of 
grain, is the usual daily allowance for an elephant : this mossaulla 
is an indulgence on service, and was allowed to the Peishwa’s 
elephants and Arabian horses, in a country frequently laid waste 
and affording little provender for cattle. In our Guzerat encamp- 
ments man and beast suffered many deprivations, and were often 
at a loss for food: notwithstanding this general deficiency, an 
ample supply of mossaulla was allowed to the favourite elephants; 
yet they became gradually emaciated, and pined away without an 
apparent cause. The keepers were suspected of withholding their 
mossaulla, and, the fraud being proved, were severely punished; 
and the master of the elephants, who, like the master of the horse 
in European courts, is generally a man of high rank, appointed 
* Griffith’s edition of Cuvier, vol. iii. 
VOL. XII. 4 R 
