270 
THE ELEPHANT. 
highly of the peculiar smell of the animal/’ It may 
be so, but, for my part, I consider that of a young 
animal at least as very palatable. 
Everyone, however, agrees in saying that the 
foot, if properly cooked, is a great delicacy. The na¬ 
tive manner of preparing it is as follows :—A hole 
should be dug in the earth, about four feefc deep and 
two feet six inches in diameter, the sides of which 
should be perpendicular. In this a large fire should 
be lighted, and kept burning for four or five hours, 
with a continual supply of wood, so that the walls 
may become red-hot. At the expiration of the blaze, 
the foot should be laid on the glowing embers, and 
the hole be covered closely with thick pieces of 
green wood laid parallel together, so as to form a 
sort of ceiling. This should be covered with wet grass, 
and the whole should be plastered over with mud, 
and stamped tightly down to retain the heat. Upon 
the mud a quantity of earth should be heaped, and 
the oven should not be opened for thirty hours or 
more. At the expiration of that time the foot will 
be perfectly baked; the sole will separate like a 
shoe, and expose a delicate substance, which, with a 
little oil and vinegar, together with an allowance of 
pepper and salt, is a delicious dish that will feed a 
number of people. When circumstances, however, 
permit, a more civilized plan of preparing the foot 
is to half boil it in water, and, after adding a quan¬ 
tity of fresh milk, allow it to simmer over a slow fire 
till reduced to a kind of jelly. In that state it may 
be eaten either hot or cold. 
But why the proboscis should be looked on as a 
