The Sun.
London, England, 1840-03-17 00:00:00

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EVENING EDITIOVL-t=
BATTLE WITH WILD ELE•44 .t7.1P4
PIiANTS.

(From the Bombay Courier.)

On the 24th of September at midnight I rewired
information that two elephants of very uncommon size
had made their appearance within a kw hundred yards
of the cantonments, and close to a village, the int:Alf
tants of which were in the" greatest alarm.Piro
time in dispatching to the place all the public and pri-
vate elephants at the station, in pursuit. or tiu m, ;rid at
day-break on the 25th was informed that their ~ry
superior size, and appar'entlicrceness, had render. .d
attempts for their seizure unavailing, and that the
experienced driver I had was dangerously hurt ; tho
elephant on whi,.l) he rode having been struck. :o tiro
ground by one of the wild ones, which, with its compa-
nion, had afterwards retreated to a large sugar-cfaw
joining the village.
I immediately ordered the guns to this place, hut
being desirous, in the first instance, to try every mean:
of catching. the elephants, T zssembled the irhal/i-
-tants of the neighbourhood, with the assist-x..1(.7e of
Rajah Rungnath Sing, mid caused two deep pits to
be prepared at the edge of the suvr-eanc, in which
our elephants and people, with the utmost dexterity,
contrived to retain the elephants during the day, NI/lien
the pits were reported ready, we repaired to.the spot,
and they were with the greatest dexterity drpe tin into
them ; but, unfortunatety, one of the two did no: pro
sufficiently deep, and the elephant which escaped from
it, in the presence of many witneases, assisted his com-
panion out of the other pit with his trunk.

Both were, however, with much exertion, brought
back into the sugar-cane, and, as no particular symp_
toms of vice or fierceness had appeared in the coutse
the day, I was yet anxious to make another trial to
catch them.

The bildars therefore were set to work to deepen the
hole, and prepare new pits against daybreak, V: h c :-. I
proposed to make the final attempt.
At four o'clock in the morning of yesterday, however,
they burst through all my guards, and making for a ‘'.l-1
!age, about three miles distant, entered it with so much
rapidity, that the horseman, who galloped in front of
them, had not time to apprise every, inhabitant of his
danger, and I regret to say that one poor man was torn*,
limb from limb, a child trodden to death, and two other',
persons (females) wounded.
Their destruction now became absolutely necessary ;
and, as they showed no inclination to quit the large
village in which the mischief had been done, we gained
time to bring up the four-pounders, from which they
soon received several round-shot, and abundance of
grape, each. The largest of the two was even brought
to the ground by a round shot in the head ; but, after
remaining there a quarter of an hour, appardilly
he got up again, as vigorous as ever, and the despers-
don of both at this period exceeds all description.
They made repeated charges at the guns, and if it had
not been for the uncommon steadiness and bravery of
the artillerymen, who more than once turned them ofl;
by shots in the head and body, when within a very kw
paces of them, many dreadful casualties must have oc-
curred.

We were now obliged to desist for want of arum,
nition, and before a fresh supply could be obtainen, th 4•
elephants quitted the village, and though streaming with
blood from an hundred wounds, proceeded, with a ra-
pidity of which I had no idea, towards Hazafeebagh;
They were at length brought up by the horsemen and
our elephants, when within a very short distance of a
crowded bazaar, and ultimately, after many renewiils of
the most formidable and ferocious attacks upon the guns,
gave up the contest, with their lives. Nineteen tour-
pound shots have already been taken out of their bodies,
and I imagine eight or ten more will yet be found.
I have been thus particular, both because I think Ole
transaction worthy of being recorded, as well as fro% a
hope that you will concur with me in the propriniy cf
an application to the Government for compensation for
the damage suffered by the owners of the villa ir of
and Ooria, from the destruction of several Ti uts, atilt
much cultivation. I have taken the necessary s'eps to
ascertain the extent of the injury they have sustained,
and shall have the pleasure of communicating to you the
result.

I enclose a correct measurement of the elephants.
which will be read with surprise, I believe. lam of
opinion that they must have escaped from Hplerabad,
or some other part of the Deccan, for I hate never
heard of or seen animals of their size in this part of Ind-a.
(Signed) E. ROUGHSEDGE,
Capt. Comd. Ramghur
MEASUREMENT OF THE ELEPHANTS.

Ft. In.
No. I.—Length from tip of trunk to tip of tail 26 91
Height ll 0
Round the body
From crown of head to beneath the jaw

No. 2.—Length, as abovo
Height
Round the body . .

From crown of head to beneath the jaw... 6 8
(True copy) E. ROUGHSEDGE, Capt. Comd.

BAGDAD.

The following interesting account of this city ig
ex-
tracted from " Travels in Kurdistan," by J. 13. Fraser
Esq. just published :

4: Ithinic," says Mr. Fraser, " of all places I ever
was in, it is the most remarkable for every imagin-
able sort of noise, and its inhabitants the most intole-
rably obstreperous. The room I now occupy has a
balcony over the street, with two windows ; so that
everything that passes under, is us well heard as if if
were going on in the room. Before day I have a con=
cert of cocks and hens from a neighbouring yard ; this
is followed by the lively beat of the ' reveillcz' from the
Sepoys' quarter, which, in its turn, rouses a host of "
dogs ; these keep up a very industrious running bass of'
barking-, till the donkeys begin to bray. By that time
the neighbouring Arabs who have been driven into :fawn
by the disturbed state of the country beyond its walls,
have shaken their ears, and begin to drive out to pasture
the flocks of sheep and herds of cattle and camels they
have brought in with them for security. Assiaredly
Arab sheep and cattle have the deafest ears to the voice
of the charmer of any animals on earth, or they are
grievously abused by their drivers ; for such a roatirg
and roarirg as is made to induce the beasts to masa
along, I never heard in any other place. . . By
:hat time the rest of the biped inhabitants are astir.
The quiet Turk shuffles silently along, nor do the
Christians or Jews commit any violent trespass upo:.
the sense of hearing ; but there are more Arabs—ay,
this street is their great thoroughfare, and here and
everywhere they rush along in droves, like the less
brutal animals they drive or ride, hallooing to 'each
other and to all they pass, often maintaining a ccnvera
sation at the top of their tremendous voices, with set-re
equally clear-piped brother, at a waster of a mile's dis-
tance ; as for approaching nearer for conveuicece o
communication, they never dream of such a think.; ;
lungs are cheaper than legs, it is clear, at least, in
Baghdad. Then there is—but I spare you the further
detail of town criers, saints routing out their aealiag
ejaculations, beggars and fakeers thundering fortis their
petitions in the name of Allah and the Prophet ; sod,
worse than all, professed singers practising the it voices
as they pass along. In short, Hatchettls, in Piccadilly,
when all the mails and coaches are under despatch—
Ccckspur-street and Charing-cross, when the season is
fullest and the cries are loudest—or Smithfield on al
special market day—or Billingsgate, or all of those to-
gether, must strike and yield the palm for variety arid
intensity of noise, to Baghdad, the true legitimate su
cessor of old Babel." The white asses and black no-
groes, though not so noisy, attract equally the attention
of travellers. " For the former," says Mr. Fraser," there
is quite a craze here—white is your only colour for aalcn-
key, and you scarcely meet any person of respectability,
man or woman, mounted on any thing else than these
spotless quadrupeds—pisexcept,thiinndgeeudn,detrhetimicog7adtt.
war-
like classes, who i
,
an Arab steed. Most of the learned and holy
fessions prefer the meeker animal, and
do all ladies ; so that the number in
use is very ttn"de
as women of the higher ranks seldom mos 4 without a
multitude of attendants similarly mounted, when such a
visit is made at the house of a neighbour, the' braving
concert becomes intolerable. These asses are, I believe,
of a particular breed, and fetch very high prices—from
forty to fifty pounds sterling being no uncommon sum
for one of great size, good blood, and fine paces. They
are magnificently caparisoned, and every one of the pour
animals has its nostrils slit, a practice prevalent also in
Persia, and which is said to make them longer winded.
Heaven knows their wind is long enough when thel
begin to bray. The rage fur Wick slaves Lere is quite all
universal us that for white donkeys, and, judging from ap-
pearances, I should suppose that the uglier they are,
the more they are valued—hke an Isle of Skye terrier.
whose beauty consists in its especial and perfect ugli-
ness. These dark beauties, male and female, come
chiefly from Madagascar and Zanzebar, and are sup-
plied for the most part by tlielniitim ol.Nu
i,
Muscat—ndas
very staunch and worthy a, of i
lyours, in whosei
nearly all the trade, rests. 'They are all thick-lipped,
have broad faces, high cheek-bones, exceedingly da-
presse, pressed noses, small peaked chins, staring 'white eyes,
and atrociously black skins. . . . Here you find them
greatly preferred to all others as servants, both in the
Harem, and for other offices. The streets s'.vartn with
them, and their glossy skins, fat shining faces, and gay
apparel, lead at once to the conclusion that they •fare
well; a fact sufficiently notorious f om the well-known
partiality of Turks, in common Witt, most Orientals,
towards their slaves ; and the impudent swarer, cud'
not unfrequcutly insolent language of the dark rogues as
they pass you in the street, leaves no doubt of 'hit'
being the spoiled favourites of some over-indulgent
master. The enjoyment of this species cfrluxury :s,
however, confined to the faithful ; no Christian or hill-
del, of whatever caste, being by law permitted to coals
al), slave."

Among the deLi.iantes of this season we porePivo
tha Lady Ida Hay, Lady Sarah Villiers, Lady Francas eane,
Lady Mary Campbell, faclv Lonim Primrose, and Miss Aii:L
tc6b-ifs. -- -The-approaching !)rawing- Room will, wetetiagvi, a d
many to the list. . - - ---- -