, 1874-06-28
THE DIRGE OF THE ELEPHANT.


| Somewhere in tho marvellous yarn which Bin-
! Dad the Sailor contrlYel to spin for the benefit
Of the al-puissant Hnroun AHasch1d aud tiiaffir,
Ills iizler. ID au account Of the burial place OF
| the elephants. Siubad surrounded By the mo.a-
| strous bguteH, has sc8lod tree, in which he il
besieged for seren days aud sryen nights On
| the eighth day HI old bull. tho "rogue +" of the
| herd, rands tho tree up by its roots, and Sinbal
falling headoDg to the ground. judges it tho
saiost COURSE to feign death. The elephant dis
dslnug to Wreak lta rage upon lteless eus1ny,
picks the old sailor up and quietly carries HIM to
tho great burlal-pIaca OF the trine,-a hi 3h h.li
! some miles In circuit surrounded By lrnpenatra-
| bio forests, and thickly covered with the bones
and tusks OF generation after generation OF 1.-The
| brute whion bears between i1B eyes tue se1pent
| for hand" Slnbad, with conllnendahle prt-
| deuce, continues to counterfeit Death 1ntl not
elephant IL III sight and then, with I'll alacr-
| ty equally conltneudahe, loads ra!t with picked
| tusks, makes his way with them to Da:lad, and
60 finds himself again rich man. Muleru re-
sea, ch has gone far to rehabiltaie tho credit Ut
| Snbad the Sailor. We know that the long mar
ratige OF hs seven voyages is no idle fairy tnls,
but that it e1npolles the genuine tradition OF old
Davigators, such al Hanno, aud that its main
facts arc substantially accurate. The Valley
Of the Diamonds actually exists in CeyloE; tha
great 1ukh once built its nest in alnda5ascar aud
Mapped its monstrous wings to aud fro between
| the island and the mainland; aud there is good
ground to believe that the tale Of the great bur-
iaf place OF the elephant race is no mere fable
but that high up in the table-}aud Of Central
Africa. on the further side Of TAugaayikA. in
districts where the white mans foot has never
yet trod ivory is to be found plentifulIy es in
The FOSSIL beds OF Siberia whence arc dug up tho
huge mammoth tusks that furnish nine tertLa
OF the raw material operated upon by our Lou
don ivory-tnrnerB. Indeed, it would almost seem
81 if the energy of the Zanzibar merchants had
at length found way to Sinbad's charmed
hill Within the last year, the importation Of
ivory has doubled ITSELF, Whence come nlf
these tuske? Has the Va1halla OF Sinbad been
actually discovered, aud do tho chiefs whose huts
cluster round Tagauyi1a, and under tbs shadow
Of the Mountains OF tho Moon, know OF vet-
TABLE Tom Tiddler's ground where ivory can bo
picked up, as III Siberia it can be dug up, by tia
ton; or does each pair Of tusas that hnds its way
to England represent slaughtered elephant,
and il = war of determination being wsged, the
ultimate effect OF which must be rendered tha
huge brute as extinct as tha dinornls itseif7
The Inter We Tear, is the true angwer. Tho
elephant like the whale. Ia dying out In India
be ia becoming almost as rare as 10 the rcd deer
in England Tue hunters have driven him fur
ther and further inland; unless something be
done to protect him, he will before long
become, upon the main continent, ut any
rate, altogether extinct, ard 6ahlb will have to
import his elephants from Dirmah aud Ceylon.
much as We In England import our ho.ses from
Ireland and our foxea from any country that will
sond them to Us in sufficient number aud Ut SUI.
fcieut size and strength. III africa, 1t is true,
e e1 ~ nu ~ ~ 10. nnn sn1 % .I @
t1pse 10y. -. .nas =. ntt"a sne .tn e
paaa1 ssn d;snt.tos ~ SUI eaa
n1las ~, ~ a "s @ ~. 'as. u.s. ssaot9 ~
Nhcu iu4t ane saae oeeos, eaet o non 11l aauaAets
ana eay pipes, ps.n.ea canso t anu coaa1e M suapo"
teI nase nosI1 ~ snei -. "oe
hoMe'e1, WI, paop4o5 % H. w. % ns na tnnos' ~
uaY, caravans s.A!s loLu hne 1an1oaI M COAST 10
Inc INTERIOR carrying VIA l1 an .e2s tne hativo
m neAf. ILL.,. aoe4n ~ 'Ai 10 e1 anu a., " ..
20 20 tkAs pa5men. !" a'o:5 ~. al sEas
1ney nase ~ onet; ros t;a, .sn " anzsp sss
a. susAa 80. .h9 tr;'a, "tia e"n
nis "t'ss wv ~ osaua e. eau .aso
hlsn hlnase41 anu n's ani.s5e1s VIII rum n,'e
snnpoSoes, ana Gan 60 anofo 10 Wait patiently
VI nns1 next year non.1ue soason eoninences
1Ae oanRes "Alcn 1ue snuse !n'oites ~ a1asses.
ated. ihe elephant J. oanEelaus oeas1 -
lneet TACO 20 1ace. pnt he 10 sasily cltcuase'sau
" efa1s Hs can 90 eaos VIVA Ioas1uea stto"s;
ne CHI oe !!snteaea y Htiu!'sut ~ aia aI
!en INTO plt'nIs OF, II '1e nun1es 81 nasu 1l,s1 tna
fe4c.etse 10. M. .1'tt 10 Aa 70 .os'o"
i.es 80. - - 49,. 49,, yaar hv Toar. 1a-onr nnmna,
~ +rata ;e cnrria,, fioxn 70 thu coo.f wa nav
oe...sI - tJia sraata hut ,ra ara nova,1oua ~
~ - 1'N Nor r. .Yte+ MI e,sv
-. eeop aoa h. WIT n,ac;sa .rynynant ~ ara