The Arizona champion., 1890-12-20
BURMESE ELEPHANTS,
Not so Courageous an Animal
 as Supposed.
TAEIRa ABgaHTAfE OF HIS SAGAGITY.
An Elephants Caution When Crossing
 a Bridge.

ageOuS en anllndl us IS BeueTdlly sup posed. He won't fight unless he cannot get out of a scrape by any other means He will, when travelling with load of humans in forest, start at any noise in the jungle. and if not soothed by his mahout, is ready to bolt into the forest, quite careless about those who are mounted upon his capacious back. Perhaps this trait in his character is not want of cour- age, but merely nervousness. They are the general beast of burden in the country. and the government departments have a number of them in their charge. Each elephant has his name. and it is interest ing to watch them at work. Their mahouts often take advantage of their sagacity and so save themselves trouble. saw an instance of this up the coun- try The telegraph follows the advance of the troops to secure rapid communica- tion with the rear. So line was formed as the country was occupied First track was made by felling all timber and clearing of any undergrowth. etc, 10 about twenty feet in width, hundreds of men being employed Such trees as were suitable in length and otherwise were trimmed into the required shape for tele- graph poles; anumber of them being piled Ut lilIClN oIo diOLlS5 luO lldOh- hCh Olio elephants were sent to carry the poles to the distances they were to be set apart. saw one mahout conduct his elephant to pile of these heavy poles and tell the in telligent animal tc pick one up: he then with a long wand he had for the purpose measured off the distance and accom- panied the elephant. who carried the pole to the place the mahout indicated Then I . L, oil ha a1anhonf fo to the pile and place them in line along the track, at the same distance apart as the one he had measured The man then lay down under a tree and went to sleep.
 In the meantime the noble animal took up each piece of timber and carried 1t 10 it's proper place in the line. felt So in terested that I stayed to witness the whole proceeding l measured the dis, tances by pacing and found them all to be equal in length and correctly placed like the first one. The beast then went to his mahout and gently touched him with the tip of his trunk and awoke him, as much as to say, All is finished, master, accord ing to your orders" The mahout awoke, mounted the elephant and went forward to continue the line in the same easy and agreeable manner
 
 before he would cross a native bridge over a river He is most cautious; puts one foot down gently and presses on the blanks to see that all is safe and firm before he will venture upon them When perfectly satisfied of the safety of the structure, and not until then, he will walk over to the other side Other ele. plants who may be in company will stop and attentively watch the proceedings of the leader When all is right they follow him without hesitation. They are not without warrant for their caution. for these native bridges are often very rickety structures, and l saw many of them come to grief during my experience of them. Elephants are sometimes de- scribed as running. but it is contrary to their habits to do so; they invariably walk. The only time know of their going at faster rate is when a wild elephant
 hard pressed by shekarries Especially
 slightly wounded. be will suddenly turn and rush at his assailants, select one and try to catch him This is termed charging Should he reach the unfortunate hunter the elephant would seize him around the body with his flexible trunk, whirl him to the earth, and tread him into a bloody mass of flesh.
 l have mentioned the nervousness of these animals An instance was shown in the difficulty found in making them draw a light wagon It was considered that in a level country bandy. l. o.. native cart, holding quantity of stores, etc, in addition to a moderate load on the beasts back, would save transport, and that more could be carried than by merely heavily loading the animals The bandy in Burmah is always drawn by the long horned tame buffalOes or the fine oxen of the country So a trial was made to see if the elephants would take favorably to this new departure in the order of things. special wooden cart was constructed. strongly built, with long bamboo shafts and a capacious body and primitive, solid wooden wheels One of the most dOcile and best natured elephants was selected for the trial The cart was brought up to him, the maholt meantime fondling and coaxing him and calling him pet names, at first with no promising result. He at length permitted the rope harness 10 be adjusted to his huge person, appearing very much astonished and foolish all the time. He kept swinging his trunk about. and could scarcely be held quiet and in proper position At last all was fixed. some heavy stones being placed Tn the cart as ballast. The mahout tried to coax him to go forward, but he would take a few steps only and then suddenly turn of to the right or left, trying to reach the cart with his trunk He did not like the rumble of it at his tail. which latter ap bondage he kept down close to his body like frightened canine.
 At length. by dint of praising him and kind treatment. he dragged the cart a few paces onward As this was thought enough for one day he was released. Every day for about week he was put through his paces" until he was pretty perfect and made no objection to having the bandy harnessed to him nc- to drag the cart whenever wanted. Then all the elephants were brought out to witness the performance. They looked critically at their brother in harness, walked around the concern and felt it with their trunks. When be started to travel with the bandy creaking behind him they seemed a tri6e startled but after a while appeared i reconciled to the look of the thing After this exhibition little difficulty was ex perienced in inducing the rest of the gov ernment elephants to draw the special bandies when it was requisite to do so
 They had seen how the thing worked with l one of themselves, and therefore accepted the situation as a matter of course.- | Charles Aubreys Burmah Letter in San ! Francisco Chronicle.
 The female half breeds of Spanish and Indian blood in Yucatan are said to be by far the handsomest people in that coun- try They are described as a gentle. docile, pleasure loving race. not altogether lazy. perfectly honest and remarkably ! eleanly in their habits.-Chicago Herald.