The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-06-28
General Grant Rides the Elephant.

John Russell Young, who is one of the party
accompanying General Grant on hs tour, thus
writes to the New York Herald from Jeypore,
India
.. To 90 to Amber, we must ride elephants.
For after a few miles the hills come and the roads
are broken and carriages are OF no value We
/, might 20 on horseback, or on camels, but the
Maharajah has sent us his elephants, and here
they are waiting for Us under q grove Of mango
trees, drawn up on the side Of the road, as if to
salute. The principal elephant wears n scarlet
cloth, as u special honor To the general. The
elephant means authority in India, and when
you wish to do your guest the highest honor you
mount him on an elephant. The Maharaieh also
sent sedan chairs for those of US who preferred an
easier and swifter conveyance Mrs. Grant
chose the sedan chair, and was switched of at a
rapid pace up the ascending road by four Hindoo
bearers. The pace at which these chairs are car
Tied is a short, measured quickstep, so that there
Is no uneasIness to the rider. The rest OF US
mounted the elephants. Elephant riding is a
curious and not an unpleasant experience. The
animal Is under perfect control, and very often,
especially in the case OF such a man as the ruler
Of Jeypore, has been for generations in the same
family. The elephant Is under the care Of n
driver called a mahout. The mahout sits on the
neck or more properly the head, OF the elephant,
and guides him with q stick or sharp iron prong,
with which he strikes the animal on the top of
the head. Between the elephant and the mahout
there arc relations OF affection. The mahout
lives with the elephant, gives him his food, and
each animal has his own keeper. The huge crea-
ture becomes in time as dOcile Us Il kitten and
will obey any order Of the mahout. The ele-
plant reaches a great age. The one assigned to
Inc had been sixty years in the royal stables. 1t
is not long since there died in Calcutta the ele-
plant which carried Warren Hastings when gov
ernor-geneFal of India-a century ago. There
are two methods of riding elephants. One is in
a box like the four seats Of q carriage, the other
on a square quilted seat, your feet hanging over
the seats, something like an Irish jauntIng car.
The first plan is good FOR hunting. but for COM
fort the second is the better. When we came to
our elephant the huge beast, at a signal of the
mahout, slowly kneeled. Then a step-ladder
was put against his side and we mounted into cur
seats. Two of the party were assigned to ali
elephant, and we sat in lOunging fashion, back
to back. There was room enough on the spacious
seat to lie down and take q nap. When the
elephant rises, which ne does twolegs at a time,
deliberately, you must hold on to the rail of
your seat. Once on his feet, he swings along at
4 slow, webbing pace. The motion is an easy
one, like that of a boat in q light sea. In time,
If you go long distances, it becomes very tire
some. Apparently you are as free as in a car
riage or a railway car. You can sit in any
position or creep about from one side to the other.
But the motion brings every part of the body
into action, bending and swinging it. and 1 could
well soc how a days long journey would make
the body very weary and tired.