Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1876-03-18

Rhinoceros and Elephant rights.


feature of the entertainment prepared for
this return call was an elephant fight,
for which sort of exhibition the Court
of Baroda has always been famous. Ma
tive Indian Princes have indeed a re-
markable passion for such displays, but
Khunderao and his successor. the late
Guicowar, were particularly devoted to
the dubious amusement OF watching the
contest of animals, so that at Baroda
there has always been kept up "a large
supply of elephants, rhinoceroses, buffa-
los, tigers. rams and camels, trained to
fight for the pleasure of the Court. Com
bats still more cruel, such as the shock
ing nukhi matches-wherein naked ath-
letes tore each other to pieces with iron
claws fitted upon the palm-used to
disgrace the leisure of the Guicowars !;
but we may trust that such sights are
now abolished there. The savage strug-
giles of beasts. starved or excited into te-
rocity, are bad enough, in all conscience,
to witness; but these are so very COM
mon at Indian entertainments that, like
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 excitement in watching the
! tiger and the buffalo bull maneuver
against each other. y Saber-like horn
against a dagger-like tooth; or two we'll
fed rams come laundering brow to brow
with a shock that rattles far and near.
| The Prince was introduced to certain of
these combats, and saw, beside, the GU
riOuS duel of rhinOcerOses, where. despite
their unwieldy bulk and awkard weap-
ons, there is really as much science dis
played as. Captain Burton has elaborated
| i'm his recent wonderful treatise on sword
play, with all its deadly mysteries of
moulinet and the like. These cunning
behemoths fence land foil to get the adj
vantage of the telling thrust under the
| jaw of 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 oppor-
tunity. BY and by one of the two COM
batants grows weary, allowing his mon
strous fowls to be thrust sideways or up
wards; and Immediately with marvellous
celebrity the successful beast drives his
horned snout under the jaw of his adver-
sary, producing wound which is ac-
knowledged with frightful squeal and
an inglOriOus retreat on the part OF the
vanquished monster.
For the elephant fight proper the con-
tending pairs are carefully trained and
prepared beforehand and stimulating
| food and drugs, and advantage is also
taken of that periodical frenzy displayed
in the male elephant which is known as
| must
AT such time Of natural excitement
the elephant becomes fierce and fOrmida-
BILE even to his keeper, and only to send
two such beasts forth into the arena and
show them for moment the waving
trunk of the distant female produces a
degree of pugnacity which wants little
additional encouragement. 1t was one
of the favOrite pleasures of the unfeelinS
Roman pOpulace to watch elephant
fights in the amphitheatre. Augustus,
who gave the people 430 pa1thers, and
! Pompey, who let loose 600 lions into the
arena, were thought to be OutdOne by
Trajan when he produced twenty ele-
plants in state of ''must," and pitted
them i'm deadly combat against 600 Getu-
ban captives. That was one elephant to
thirty men, nor would the odds seem dis
[prOpQrtionatef Ito those who have wit
messed the Indian haiti in his wrath,
| trumpet 10 out blasts Of rage and def
ance from hs upliifted trunk, straighten-
| ing his tail, dropping his great under
hung pointed lip to fair play to his ivory
| bayOnets, and his little eyes glaring ali
the while like fire balls from the, shadow
Tor the huge ears. Yet there are mahouts
VINO Will sit on their necks and push in
the th.ckest of the fight brutes as mad
even as this-digging ut their nape, this
side and that with the d1lHus or hook
though hardly more secure than would
be the captains of two iron-clads coming
into collision, with their eighty-ton can
mon disehargingJ if they perched them
selves upon the bowsprit ends.
But only the best trained animals
would be trusted thus to respect man
amid their widest rage; ordinary fight
ing elephants can not be- ridden-t to the
combat; the mahOuts excite and cheer
them, and then slip off before the encoun-
ter begins. :, When it does begin, such as
can look with pleasure on these things
behold colossal duelo. The enormous
creatures charge like mountains rolIino
Together, their tusks clash and CHATTER,
their huge feet delve chasms in the dust
and scatter it i'm clouds, and they rear up
on their hind legs and wrestle for the
mastery with an agility as astonishing as
is their senseless fury. The trunk, ear
and flank are the weak places, as the wise
beast well knows; and what with keep
| ing his own clear and seeking to seize
| that of his opponent SO that he may force
him aside and drive an ivory sword-tip
1under the elbow or hook, or wiring off
| his leathern ear, one and the other pro-
boscis fly about together in the air like
arms of an Infatuated windmill. Shrill
signals OF fear or rage, of victory Or de-
feat, accompany the rounds, for the wrath
| full elephant blows his own battle-musie
continually, and screams with tremeI-
dous anxiety, when he is. getting the
worst of it. Presently some advantage is
gained, and blow or dig which would
annihilate any thing but Leviathan is
dealt, whereupOn, ordinarily, the saga
cious brute who has fought in vain knows
| that he is defeated, and quite declines to
stand up to any needless punishment.
He turns tail and trots OFF, ungainly and
discounted, covered with dust and blood,
and pursued little while by the victor,
who soon, however, Is content to. trumpet
out an insulting blast and range the are
ma for another foe. It wants cOnsidera-
BILE skill at such q moment to- slip the
foot ropes on the triumphant monster
and get him out of the way; but this is
managed by the adr0it mahouts, either
Dy cunning approaches or by bringingin
couple OF females. -. Sometimes a weak
elephant is forced to the earth and gored
or stamped so that he dies, but generally
they live to fight another days. provi-
| ded that the ttiskss have not been fitted
with steel points, which, occasionally
practiced.
Improving ones stime-mending the
clock.
| A girl being accused of trifling with
| her lovers feelings replied. 81 plead iiltv,,