American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-12-25

WRITING of the Prince of Wales re-
ception at Baroda, the correspondent of
the London Daily Telegraph says: p
The chief feature of the entertainment
prepared at the return call was an ele-
plant fight, for which sort of exhibition
the court of Baroda has always been
famous. Native Indian Princes have in
deed a remarkable passion for such dis
plays, but KhunderaO and his successor,
the late GuicOwar,s were Particularly de-
voted to the dubious amusement of watch
ing the contests of animals, so that at
Baroda there has always been kept up
large supply of elephants, rhinoceroses,
buftaloes, tigers, rams and camels trained
to fight for the pleasure of the court.
Combats still more cruel, such as the
shocking nuh5tt matches--wherein naked
athletes tore each other to pieces with iron
claws fitted upon the palm-used TO dis
grace the leisure of the GuicOwars; but
We may trust that such sights are now
abolished there. The savage struggles of
beasts, starved or excited into ferocity, are
bad enough, in all conscience, to witness
but these are so very common in Indian
entertainments that, like a. bull-fight in
Spain, one sees them once or twice as
part of the fashion of the country.
Nor, to tell the truth, is there
wanting an element of excitement
in watching the tiger and the
buffalo bull maneuver against each
other, saber- like horn against tlagger-like
tooth; or two well-fed rams come thun-
dering, brow against brow, with a shock
that rattles far and near. The Prince was
introduced to certain of these combats.
and saw, besides, the curious duel of rhi
nOcerOses, where, despite their unweildy
bulk and awkward weapons, there is real
ly almost as much science displayed as
Capt. Burton has elaborated in his recent
wonderful treatise on sword play, with all
its deadly mysteries of moulinet and the
like. These cunning behemoths fence
and foil to get tile advantage of the telling
thrust'under the jaw with their horn, and
over and over again they will close, and
press, and butt one another backward and
forward in clouds of dust, snorting, and
grunting, and champing foam, while the
attendants refresh them with -copious
chatties Of water, neither obtaining the
fatal opportunity. By and by one of the
com batants grows weary, allowing his
jowls to be thrust sideways or
upward; and Immediately, with marvel
Gus celebrity, the successful beast drives his
armed snout under the jaw of his adver-
sary, producing a wound which Is ac-
with frightful squcal and
an inglorious retreat on the part of the
beast.
For the elephant fight proper the con-
tending pairs are carefully trained and
prepared beforehand with stimulating
food and drugs. 1t was one of the favor
lite pleasures OF the unieeling Roman pop
ulace to watch elephant fights in the am
phitheater. Augustus, who gave the pco-
Pile 43O panthers, and Pompey, who let
loose 600 lions into the arena, were
thought to be outdone by Trajan when he
produced twenty elephants and pittcd
them in deadly combat against 600 Getu-
liam captiycs. That was one elephant to
thirty men; nor would the odds seem dis
to those who have witnessed
the Indian huti in his wrath, trumpeting
out blasts of rage and defiance from his
lpliited trunk, Strengthening his tail
dropping his great under hung pointed
lip To give fair play to his ivory bayonets,
and his little eyes glaring all the while
like fire balls from the shadow of the huge
ears. Yet theIe are many bouts who will
sit on their necks and push into the |
thickest of the fight brutes even as mad
As this-digging at their nape, this side
aud that, with the alkus or hoox, though |
hardly more secure than would be the
Captains of two iron-clads coming into
collision, with their eighty-ton cannon