250 
THE ELEPHANT. 
quire daily a hundred pounds weight of this 
food, besides fresh herbage to cool him, and 
he must be led to the water twice or thrice 
a day for the benefit of bathing. He takes 
up the water in his trunk, drinks part of it> 
and then, by elevating his trunk, causes the 
remainder to run over every part of his body- 
His daily consumption of water, as drink, has 
been calculated at forty-five gallons. 
The Hindoos, prepossessed with a notion of 
the transmigration of souls, imagine that ^ 
body of such magnitude as the elephant’s must 
be animated by the soul of a great man, of 
a king. White elephants in particular are 
regarded as the living manes of the Indian 
emperors. Each of these animals formerly 
had a palace, with a number of attendants^ 
golden utensils filled with the choicest {ood> 
and magnificent garments, and they were ex- 
empted from all labour. 
When the King of Ava walks abroad, font 
