II 
THE ELEPHANT 
39 
forms a hollow tube, similar to a very thick drain 
tile. A handful of rice is placed within, and it is 
secured by tying with a fibrous strip from the 
plantain stem. A large pile of these neat packages 
is prepared for every elephant, and, when ready, 
the mahout sits by the heap and hands the parcels 
one by one to the ever-expectant trunk. 
The delicacy of an elephants palate is extra¬ 
ordinary, and the whims of the creature are absurd 
in the selection or rejection of morsels which it 
prefers or dislikes. I once saw a peculiar instance 
of this in an elephant that belonged to the police at 
Dhubri on the Brahmaputra. This animal had a 
large allowance of rice, therefore about three-quarters 
of a pound were placed within each tube of plantain 
stem. A lady offered the elephant, when being fed, 
a very small sweet biscuit, about an inch and a half 
in diameter. This was accepted in the trunk, but 
almost immediately rejected and thrown upon the 
ground. The mahout, fearing that his elephant had 
behaved rudely in thus refusing a present from a 
lady’s hand, picked up the biscuit and inserted it in 
the next parcel of rice and plantain stem. This was 
placed within the elephant’s mouth. At the first 
crunch the animal showed evident signs of disgust, 
and at once spat out the whole of the contents. 
There lay a complete ruin of the neat package, which 
had been burst by the power of the great jaws ; but 
among the scattered rice that had been ejected we 
perceived the biscuit which had caused the second 
instance of bad behaviour. So utterly disgusted was 
