Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-15

I
seven feet high. One of his tusks had
been broken and repaired with ring Of
yellow mineral, presumably goid, though
there was room for doubt IL was anna
rent that similar breakages and repairs
had given rise TO the stories SO common
IN the books of Siam written during the
last ball century that it was the custom
10 adorn the tusks of the sacred elephants
IN the royal stables with heavy rings Of
gold. was advised by the interpreter
not 10 go near this elephant, because he
was angry some more" However,
saw no signs Of either of the three being
angry more or less. In fact. they
seemed entirely unconscious of the pres
ence OF stranger, entirely taken up with
their simple diet, and absorbed in the mo-
nononous and cOntempIative trunk
swinging, which is their only recreation
The third elephant, which found to be
considerably larger, was like unto the
others in his surroundings and appoint
ments. He seemed to be entirely black,
with whitish or grayish spots on the left
| haunch and left shoulder. There was
also dirty gray streak along the spine
There was no clean suggestion of either
Of the three, and, beyond what is herein
said, not enough of definite or distinct
| line to permit OF such a verbal or pic
torial description as would convey a cor
tance, None of the c0loted lithograpbs of
the white elephants of Siam convey even
| the remOtest idea of their color or general
! appearance. The author always fails
to give his intangible idea to
| the artist and the artist neces-
sarily fails to portray what he
/ has never seen and cannot imagine.
| There is only one respect in which white
! elephants can be said to agree, or IN
/ in inn
/ cord. The s0-caled white, gray, red, or
"oh'' color is supposed to be the result of
some unhealthy condition of the animal,
corresponding to what is called in man
and beasts the albiDO type. There is in
this type a correspondence Of color in the
eye, which is pinkisn yellow, or in the
white elephant, as one writer describes
it, "a deep Naples yellow" 1t is not a
point, however, of which many persons,
for obvious reasons, have ever made a
profound study.
THE ELEPHANT DEGENERATING.
The subject of white elephants, the es-
TEEN and reverence in which thew have
for many ages been held, the wars and p0-
litical changes they have caused the splen-
did ceremonial with which they are some
times surrounded, and even a record of
their names and biographies, is a matter
of very remarkable interest. Every writer
who has visited Siam, either in an official
capacity or AS literary tourist, has writ
ten about them, either with unlnteresting
cOpiOusness or with unsatisfying breYity
Among the titles which BOwrng says
have been given to them were ''The Glory
of the World, /" "The Earth Leveler," and
THE Radiance of the World" In 1547
| three white elephants were captured, in
1913 four, so that the then King
Of Siam possessed seven, and all the
nations of the world came to do him
honor. This number seeming superfluous
to the King of Pega, he begged two of
them, and when his modest request was
refused he brought against his parsmOni-
Gus rival an army Of 800, 900 men, with 1000
elephants and -, 900 horses, and took from
him not only his sacred pachyderms but
his kingdom. When the white elephant
died, soon after Bowring's visit, the King
OF Siam sent some Of its hairs to Queen
Victoria as in his eyes the most priceless
of gifts. Sometimes not more than one
white elephant is caught in year. Some
times several years pass without a cap
ture, though the royal hOnOrs heaped on
the lucky finder stimulate the people oft the
elephant districts to increasing vigilance.
1t seems as if, owing to the rapidly en-
HANGING price ofivOry and the slaughtered
the elephant for sport or other reasons,
like the buffalo it is destined to speedy
extinction, The ivory of commerce is
ra pidly deteriprating, and anyone who
has lived among the workers during the
last third of a century still note the swon-
derful contrast between the magnificent
tusks he used TO see aud the puny ones he
now observes on the putatiVe white ele-
plants now or sent to the markets of Europe
or America. White monkeys used to be
common about the royal stables. There
was one attached to one of the elephants
1As.. a ,v.1
and though / made diligent inquiry l
could not learn its fate. Finlayson. who
seems to have studied the albinO
type in animals, says that albno
deer and buffalo are common in the East,
and that a species of fish OF light color and
pnkish eyes has been found on the coasts
of Siam.
Though the white elephant fails to re-
ceiye the honor In private formerly lay
iShed on him, We're another To be found to-
day in the LaOr forests the present King
would, either from his native love of pomp
or from Difference to popular prejudice,
receive and conduct it to the royal stables
with even more than the ancient magnit-
cence Of ceremonial, The Governor OF
the fortunate province would notify him
of the discovery, roads would be cut
through the forest and jungle to facilitate
its approach to the river, the finder would
hO CuuOFtCu dhA AiGGAFC lACA gus "a
money, the messenger who brought TO
the throne the suspicious news
would be munifcently rewarded, and
the King, mobiles, and all persons
attached TO the court would go forty
or fifty miles up the Menam to meet the
raft bringing from its wonderful forests
its propitiOus burden. The display of
royal and princely barges, with their re-
tInues, and the popular procession would
be in appearance repetition Of the page
ant Of Cleopatra and Antony on the Cyd-
nus. Everyone who could do 80 would
attach his own craft TO the raft bearing
the elephant, and 80, accompanied by all
that is majestic, SNOWY or splendid in the
kingdom Of Siam, with the harmony OF
bands Of music aid the clamOr OF the null
titude, the wondering but quite uncOnsci-
Gus and altogether amazed inear-
nation Of Buddha would come float
ing down on the swift current Of
the river to the whaFYes OF the royal
city OF Bangkok. There he would be re-
ceiyed by 100000 wOrshipers and COW
cred with rich drapery. sheltered by SUI
perb parasols, aud surrounded by the
most gorgeous pageantry he would be
conducted to mis- stable for the moment
maryelously decorated and filled with
choice foods little later TO have his gay,
hrfuhF fFnnpfuUa "a IN his