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annoyed the enemy j while a perfon fitting on the neck, 
diredted the motions of the elephant, and animated him 
to fight with his trunk. But, when feared or wounded, 
thev difdained all government, and fpread confufion, not 
lefs readily among their friends, than through the ranks 
of the adverfe army. 
The eaft: is the great theatre on which the ftrength, 
the ingenuity, and the generous qualities, of this noble 
animal have been difplayed. The Indian princes eftimate 
their power and grandeur By the number of their ele¬ 
phants. Many of the Indians are perfuaded that fo ma- 
jeftic a body mull be animated by the foul of a departed 
king or hero. In Siam, Pegu, and Laos, white elephants, 
and elephants with one tufk, are viewed with peculiar 
veneration, as the living manes of deceafed emperors. 
Each has a fplendid habitation, a faithful domeftic to at¬ 
tend him, golden velfels, choice food, and fplendid robes! 
They are fubjedled to no fervile labours, and are taught 
to bow the knee to the emperor, but before none elfe. 
In China, according to fir George Staunton, the ele¬ 
phant is (till found as an appendage of greatnefs, both 
about the palaces', and in the cavalcades, of the emperor. 
It is there no lefs regarded for its docility and ftrength, 
than for its difpofition to be ufeful and obedient to man 
in all its labours. In Cochin-China, according to the 
fame author, elephants are trained for war, by placing 
ranks of foldiers, carved in wood, before them, whom 
they are taught to attack with great fury, feizing them 
with their trunks, tolling them in the air, and trampling 
them under foot. In that country they alfo ferve^ for 
food, and are preferred to the flefh of the buffalo. See 
the article Cochin-China, vol. iv. p. 728. 
During our war in India againft Tippoo Sultaun, the 
marquis Cornwallis employed elephants to great advan¬ 
tage, in conveying the baggage and (lores of the Englilh 
army. “ The great objection at firft made to elephants 
being employed, (fays major Dirom, in his Narrative of 
that Campaign,) was the difficulty of their fubfiftence; 
as it was fuppoled they could not live without a very 
large daily allowance of rice. This idea, which their 
keepers are interefted and careful to inculcate, neceffity 
and experience have at length fet afide. The elephant 
is not only the mod powerful and mod ufeful, but one of 
the mod hardy animals that can be employed with an 
army. He carries a load equal to fixteen bullocks, and 
without rifle of lofs or damage on the march. He fubfifts 
upon the leaves or fmall branches of trees, on the fugar- 
cane, or the plantain-tree : in ftiort, he lives upon forage 
•which horfes and bullocks do not eat; any kind of grain 
will fupport him, and he will work as long without grain 
as any other animal. The lofs of elephants, although 
they had their full fliare of hardfhip and fatigue, was in- 
confiderable in proportion to that of cattle : and far from 
being an incumbrance, or an expeMentof neceffity to fup- 
ply the want of bullocks, they will hereafter be confi- 
dered. as the firft and mod elfential clafs of cattle that 
dught to be provided for the carriage of an Indian army.” 
A tame elephant is really the molt docile, gentle, anff 
obedient, of all animals. He forms an attachment to his 
keeper; comprehends figns ; learns to diftinguifh the va¬ 
rious fleftions of the human voice, as exprefiive of anger, 
approbation, or command ; is even capable of being taught 
to underftand the import of articulate language; adopts, 
in many inftances, the manners and the fentiments of man¬ 
kind ; difeovers a fenle of duty, and of honour, and ex- 
pefts to be honeftly dealt with; is generous, grateful, 
patient, magnanimous, and humane. Hence many ludi¬ 
crous ftories, compounded of truth and fable, have been 
related of the elephant, merely to place his fentient ac¬ 
quirements in a pleating point of view. But there are 
fufficient well-attefted proofs of his docility and intelli¬ 
gence, without any neceffity of reforting to the marvel¬ 
lous. M. d’Obfonville relates an anecdote of an elephant 
which places him in a very amiable light. In the Lak- 
naor, the capital of Soubah, during the rage of an epi- 
4 
PHAS. 4 #57 
demic diftemper, the principal road to the palace gate 
was covered v\ ith lick and dying people, extended on the 
ground, and incapable of moving, though at a time when 
the nabob was to pafs on his elephant. The indifference 
of the prince about the lives of his perifliing fubjefls, 
the hafte with w'hieh he was to pafs, and the towering 
motions and heavy fteps of the elephant, feemed to 
threaten inevitable death to thofe unhappy wretches 
who chanced to be in his way. But the generous qua¬ 
druped, without receiving, any command to the purpofe, 
ard even without flackening his pace, dexteroully aflifted 
the poor creatures with his trunk, removing fome, railing 
others, and ftepping over the reft ; fo that none fuftered the 
flighted injury. 
A ftill more lingular fa ft is related by the fame author. 
An elephant, who, in the courfe of the war between the 
French and Englifh- in the Eaft Indies in 1759, had re¬ 
ceived a wound by a cannon ball : af'er being once or 
twice conduced to the hofpital to have his wound drefled, 
he conftantly attended of himfelf at the proper time, till 
it was healed. That the furgeon might operate, he rea¬ 
dily extended himfelf on the ground. Fie bore withqia- 
ti nee the application even of a burning cauftic to his 
wound. The acutenefs of the pain would fometimes 
force from him a plaintive groan ; but to the hand who, 
by inflicting momentary torments, fought to accompliih 
his cure, he exprefled none but emotions of gratitude. 
Gratitude is indeed reprefented by all who have had op¬ 
portunities of obferving his manners, as the tiioft eminent 
feature in the character of the domeftic elephant. 
Yet, in a wild (late, the rage and fury of this animal is 
unfpeakable. A more convincing and affeCting proof of 
it cannot be adduced, than that given by captain Edward 
Riou, in his Journal of a Journey from the Cape of Good 
Hope, publilhed in 1792. “A large male elephant (fa\s 
this writer) came one day up to the waggons. Weinftantly 
purfued and attacked him; when, after he had received 
feveral (hot, and had twice fallen, he crept into a very 
thick thorny underwood. Thinking that we had fully 
done for him, Tjaart Vander Waldt, Lodewyk Prins, and 
Ignatius Mulder, advanced to the (pot where he was hid, 
when he rulhed out, in a furious manner, from the 
thicket, and with his trunk catching hold of Lodewyk 
Prins, who was on horfeback, pulled hint off, and trod 
him to death ; and, driving one of his tufl-cs through the 
man’s body, threw him into the air, to the diftunce of 
thirty feet. The others, perceiving that there was no 
pollibility of efcaping on horfeback, difmounted, and 
crept into the thicket to hide themfelves. The elephant 
having nothing now in view, but the horfe of Van def 
Waldt, followed it for fome rime: but turned about, 
and came to the fpot near to where the dead body lay, 
looking about for it. At this inftant our whole party re¬ 
newed the attack, in order to drive him from the fpot; 
when, after he had received feveral lhots, he again ef- 
caped into the thickeft of the wood. We now tliougl t 
that he was far enough off, and had already begun to dig 
a grave for our unfortunate companion; at which we 
were bufily employed, when the elephant ruftied out 
again, and driving 11s all away, remained by himfelf there 
on the fpot. Tjaart Vander Waldt got another fliot at 
him, at the diftance of an hundred paces. We every 
one of 11s then made another attack upon him ; and, hav¬ 
ing now received feveral more bullets, he began to (tag. 
ger; then falling, the Hottentots, with a fliot or two 
more, killed him, as lie lay on the ground. The fury of 
this animal is indefcribable. Thole of our party who. 
knew any thing of elephant-hunting, declared, that it 
was the fleeted and ntuft furious they had ever beheld.” 
Truly aftoniftiing it is, that an animal, fo powerful and 
implacable in its wild ftate, fttould fo ealily be tamed ; 
and fo foon be made fublervient to the purpofes and 
pleafures of man ! 
With refpeft to the natural affeftion of thefe animals 
towards each other, the Dutch writers -appear ti) have 
given 
