ELEPHANT 
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sick and dying wretches, extended on the ground, 
and incapable of removing, at a time when the 
nabob was to pass on his elephant. The indiffe- 
rence of the prince about the lives of his perishing 
subjects, the haste with which he was to pass, and 
the aukward motions, and heavy steps of the ele- 
phant/ seemed to threaten inevitable death to a 
number of those unhappy wretches. But the ge- 
nerous quadruped, without receiving any command 
to the purpose, and even without slackening his 
pace, very dexterously assisted the poor creatures 
with his trunk, removing some, raising others, and 
stepping over the rest ; so that none suffered the 
slightest injury. In what is an animal, capable of 
such prudence, such dexterity, and such gentle hu- 
manity, inferior to man ? In this action, both 
intelligence and virtue conspicuously appear. 
f Elephants are more influenced by a regard to 
the consequences of their actions than almost apy 
other domesticated animals. On the promise of a 
reward, they are often induced to extraordinary 
exertions of ingenuity and strength. The same 
curious observer of the economy of animals, re- 
lates that he has seen two elephants employed 
in concert in beating down a wall ; who, encou- 
raged by their cornacks, with a promise of fruits 
and brandy, doubled up their trunks to save them 
from injur) 7 , combined their efforts, thrust with 
repeated shocks against the strongest part of the 
wall, carefully marked the success of their exer- 
tions, and at last, with one grand impulse, levelled 
the frabric, retiring hastily to avoid suffering 
from its falling fragments. 
A still more singular fact is related by D’Gb- 
sonville. An elephant, who, in the course of the 
last war between the French and the British in 
the East Indies, had received a flesh wound by 
a cannon ball, after being once or twice conducted 
