II 
THE ELEPHANT 
41 
set, and then taken to drink water before actual 
night. Cleanliness is indispensable to the good 
health and condition of the elephant. It should 
bathe daily, and the entire body should be well 
scoured with a piece of brick or a soft quality of 
sandstone. This operation is much enjoyed, and 
the huge animal, obeying the command, lies down 
upon its side and accommodates its carcase to the 
scrubbing process by adapting its position to the 
requirements of the operator. It will frequently 
bury its head completely beneath the water, and 
merely protrude the extremity of its trunk to breathe 
above the surface. The coolie is most particular in 
scrubbing every portion of the animal, after which 
it will usually stand within the tank or river and 
shower volumes of water from its trunk over its 
back and flanks. When well washed, it appears a 
thoroughly clean black mass, but in a few minutes 
it proceeds to destroy its personal beauty by throw¬ 
ing clouds of dust upon its back, which, adhering to 
the moisture occasioned by its recent bath, converts 
the late clean animal into a brown mound of earth. 
There is no quadruped not absolutely amphibious 
that is so thoroughly at home in the water as 
the elephant. In a wild state it will swim the 
largest rivers, and it delights in morasses, where it 
rolls in the deep mud like a pig or buffalo, and thus 
coats its hide with a covering of slime, which pro¬ 
tects it from the attacks of flies and the worry of 
mosquitoes. When in a domestic state, the elephant 
is shy of trusting itself upon unsound earth or quick- 
