40 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
the elephant with this tiny foreign substance that it 
endeavoured to cleanse its mouth from every grain of 
rice, as though polluted by the contact, and for several 
minutes it continued to insert its trunk and rake out 
each atom from its tongue and throat. 
The adaptation of the trunk to many purposes is 
very interesting. I had an elephant who would eat 
every particle of rice in a round bamboo basket by 
sucking it up the trunk and then blowing it into its 
mouth. The basket was close-grained and smooth 
inside, but although brimful at the commencement 
of operations, it was emptied by the elephant as 
though it had been cleansed with a dry sponge. 
A distinct rule for feeding elephants cannot be 
laid down without exceptions rendered necessary by 
peculiarities of localities and the amount of hard 
work required from the animal. If the elephant is 
simply turned out to grass for a season, it will thrive 
upon such natural herbage as bamboos, the foliage 
of the banyan, peepul, and other varieties of the Ficus 
family; but if it is expected to travel and perform 
good work, it is usual in the Commissariat depart¬ 
ment to allow each elephant seven and a half seers 
of flour, equal to 15 lbs. avoirdupois. In addition 
to this, 600 lbs. of green fodder are given, and about 
I lb. of ghee (buffalo butter), with salt and jaggery 
(native sugar). During a jungle expedition I have 
always doubled the allowance of flour to 30 lbs, 
daily for each animal. This is made into large flat 
cakes like Scotch “scones,” weighing 2 lbs, each. 
The elephants are fed at about an hour before sun- 
