Ill 
THE ELEPHANT 
95 
imagined that he was being hunted by the carcase 
which so persistently followed him wherever he 
went. There was no danger to the driverj as the 
elephant was kept away from the forest. The ground 
became exceedingly rough and full of holes from the 
soakage during the rainy season. This peculiar 
soil is much disliked by elephants, as the surface is 
most treacherous, and cavernous hollows caused by 
subterranean water action render it unsafe for the 
support of such heavy animals. The resistance of 
the dead ox, which constantly jammed in the abrupt 
depressions, began to tell upon the speed, and in a 
short time the elephant was headed, and surrounded 
by a mob of villagers. I was determined that he 
should now be compelled to drag the carcase quietly 
in order to accustom him to the burden ; we there¬ 
fore attached the coupling chains to his fore legs, 
and drove him gently, turning him occasionally to 
enable him to inspect the carcase that had smitten 
him with panic. In about twenty minutes he became 
callous, and regarded the dead body with indiffer¬ 
ence. . 
Although an elephant is capable of great speed, 
it cannot jump, neither can it lift all four legs off the 
ground at the same time ; this peculiarity renders it 
impossible to cross any ditch with hard perpendicu¬ 
lar sides that will not crumble or yield to pressure, 
if such a ditch should be wider than the limit of the 
animal’s extreme pace. If the limit of a pace should 
be 6 feet, a 7-foot ditch would effectually stop 
an elephant. 
