52 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
are great numbers of the Bael tree, the fruit of which 
resembles a large cricket-ball. The shell is hard, 
and when ripe it becomes brown, and can only be 
broken by a sharp blow with some hard substance. 
The contents are highly aromatic, consisting of a 
brownish substance exceedingly sweet, and mixed 
with small seeds resembling those inside a pear. 
There is a strong flavour of medlar in this fruit, and 
it is much esteemed for medicinal properties, especi¬ 
ally in cases of diarrhoea. Although elephants refuse 
the Bael fruit unless quite ripe, they will invari¬ 
ably arrive in great numbers during the favourable 
season in the southern districts of Ceylon. The 
question arises, “ How can an animal remember the 
month without an almanack ? ” 
There is no doubt that animals possess in 
many instances a far greater degree of reason 
than is generally admitted, with which the exercise 
of memory is so closely allied that it is difficult to 
separate or define the attributes. An elephant will 
remember those who have shown kindness, perhaps 
for a longer period than it will others who may have 
offended. After seven months’ absence in England, 
an elephant that I had from the Commissariat on my 
previous visit to India recognised me at once upon 
my return. I had been in the habit of feeding this 
animal with sugar-canes and other choice food almost 
daily during several months’ companionship in the 
jungle ; this was not forgotten, and “ cupboard love ” 
was harboured in its memory with the expectation 
that the feeding would be repeated. 
