The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-10-06

that assistant it was many months ere important results beganto show them- selves. Any one who has ever Iabored with we'll meaning, but obtuse pu- pill, will appreciate how slow and dis couraging at times my work must have been. He will also understand how the progress, triding when con- sidered day by day, amounted to good deal when viewed in the aggre- gate.
 I readily taught Ulysses to hold the chalk in the fingers of his proboscis, and to mark with it upon the black board. He understood that he was to initiate, as nearly as possible, the marks that I made. In this way I taught him to print the letters of the English alphabet in clumsy characters several inches in size. Gradually he became more expert in making them, and learned the names by which they were called. It was great triumph for me when I first succeeded in get ting him to write the letters of his own name as 1 called them off, and saw myself the proud possessor of an elephant who could write his own autograph, perhaps the first of his species who ever performed that en- frightened but compromising feat.
 All this was easy enough, but to make him comprehend that certain groups of these particular marks formed pictures, which were to sug- gest definite objects to him, was very different sort of an undertaking. The hitch in the proceedings st this point was so serious that, for a time, gave up all hope of accomplishing my ob- iect. It seemed impossible to estab- fish the necessary connection in his mind between the written characters and the spoken word. At last it sud- denly dawned upon him, and he learned (fatal omenD the word "book." The acquiring of one word constituted the test in my calcula- tions. That point being gained, the rest was only question of additional work and continued patience.
 It was not long before Ulysses could write upon the board the names of most of the objects which had been used in his instruction thus far, and the verbs which had taught him in connection with them. To combine these words into sentences was largely matter of imitation, for he had ai- ready como to understand them when so arranged. In short time we were carrying on long conferences, and the vocabulary of Ulysses had increased to the point embracing most of the words used in daily conversation. With the establishment of this mode of inter- communication, Ulysses was able to explain to me what his diff culties were, and could proffer more available assistance. 1 then, for the first time, enjoyed an intimate &C., quaintance with brain that was not human. l could look into it and study it's character and mode of action. I need not add that the occupation was fascinating one.
 Our conversations, which were at | first limited to visible actions and con- crete objects, soon strayed into ab- stractions. The rapidity with which he grasped the analogy between seeing and thinking, and lifted himself out of the material into the metaphysical plane, astonished me beyond measure. He possessed an overruling sense of logic, keen and penetrating, yet so swift that it seemed transfgured to intuition. But the most wonderful feature of his intellect was his mem- ory. Now that words were supplied, as tools with which to conduct his thinking, what were before mere vague impressions became definite ideas, fixed and everlasting. I soon found that it was necessary to be ab- solutely accurate in all that said to him, as he was quick to detect any in- consistency, and his memory covered the full amount of all that had said since he had come to have command of the language.
 For some time we conversed to- gether every day, I talking or writ ing, and he using the blackboard. As print was too slow for practical use, I taught him to write shorthand. One day he made some inquiry of me con- corning the novel I happened to have in my hand, and I read him several chapters of it. His delight at gaining so much knowledge in so short time was unbounded. discovered that he regarded it as authentic history, and hastened to undeceive him. He was greatly shocked to find that any ything could be said or written which was not true. This led inc into something of dissertation upon the forms of lit- erature and the canons of taste. He listened with an absorbed interest. The bent of his mind was evidently not practical but literary and artistic. Ulysses's fondness for hearing me read gave me an idea as to means of l freeing myself from the imnorfnnities