ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. l6l 
that even when an elephant becomes blind, it can not 
only collect its food discriminately, but travel over un¬ 
equal ground, avoiding obstacles, and stepping over ditches. 
The animal, under such circumstances, rarely touches 
the ground with its trunk, but lets the finger, which 
is at the tip of the proboscis and is usually curled 
inwards to protect the nostrils, skim along the surface to 
ascertain the inequalities. The elephant is always most 
careful of its trunk, and on the approach of danger 
carries it as high as possible in the air. As the elephant 
breathes through this organ, it can swim across, or ford 
the largest rivers with only the end of the trunk out of 
the water. The animal is extremely sagacious and docile, 
and can be trained to be of great use, both in long 
marches, and in employments such as are to be witnessed 
in the wood-yards at Rangoon and Moulmein. The pre¬ 
decessor of these two small elephants was sent to the 
Melbourne Zoological Gardens in exchange for some 
Australian cattle expected to arrive inthe Calcutta Gardens 
during this cold season. Its voyage was an adventurous 
one, as a terrific storm was encountered which cleared 
the deck of the ship, but the wise brute held on by 
its trunk to an iron bar on the leeside of the vessel 
until the storm abated. The elephant is endowed with 
a good memory and has been known, after a considerable 
lapse of time, to return gratefully kindness rendered to it, 
or, on the other hand, to avenge an injury. A well- 
known story illustrating the latter trait, is that of an ele¬ 
phant at Delhi, which half-drowned a durzee or tailor, 
with water from its trunk, because the man had pricked its 
trunk with a needle, instead of giving it an apple that he 
held in his hand. The following story is also interesting 
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