The record-union., 1897-06-17

erse country, so burdened, which would
be inaccessible to horse or field artil-
lery. The elephants stand to atten-
ton,' stand at ease and salute" as
well as any Tommy" in the army.
They salute" by raising their trunks
in the air and keeping them there the
required time.
Every Mahajarah of any consequence
in India owns his state elephant or
elephants; and these creatures are like
the Queens cream cUlored ponies
chiefly kept for purposes of display.
Dressed in scarlet and gold freely dec
GRATED with precious stones and often
carrying a howdah of solid, glistening
silver, they make a very brave show in
deed and add greatly to the opulence
and picturesquenesS of Oriental process
sions and festivals. The elephant is
used largely in the jungle for pur-
poses of sport; and whether engaged in
hunting their own untamed brethren or
the fierce tiger they are found highly
useful and intelligent The wild ele-
plants, singularly enough, do not at
tack the tame ones which go into the
jungle after them; but when the tiger
is followed he frequently turns upon
the elephant, and is in turn attacked by
the latter with his tuskS, goring and
pinning to the earth his ferocious foe.
AS a beast of burden the elephant is
very largely employed in India, Bur-
nah, Ceylon, Sumatra and Southeast
ern Asia, and as such it is found to be
patient, intelligent, industrious and
most effective. The average elephant
will walk away with load of half a
ton as though unburdened. In Burmah
they are employed for dragging logs up
from the river and stacking them in
well-regulated piles on the bank This
they do with human precision, and butt
away at the end of a log until it is
flush with an pile, with an intelligence
that is almost startling. In Perak they
use them for carrying loads of tin from
the mines; in India they are employed
for bearing miscellaneous burdens, and
of course, their great strength is often
employed for removing obstacles be-
yond ordinary horsepower. AS a rule
horses are afraid of them, and 1 re-
member once, when riding from Dag
shat to Simla, having to blindfold my
horse before 1 could get him to pass
three or four stately elephants. 1t was,
of course, at a particularly nasty bit of
road, where a tumble over the CHAT
would have ended my sublunary tolls.
The elephant is, as I have said, kind
and gentle. 1t returns love for love. In
the jungle, when free, they live in
herds, and are very much attached to
each other The monarch of the herd
is an arch polygamist, and admits of no
rivalry-fghting ito the DEATH if need
be, in defense of his harem.
Like the buffalo of North America,
and the Indian rupee, the elephant is a
vanishing quantity" In Africa ele-
plants are being ruthlessly slaughtered
for their ivory. In India they are sue
cumbing before the advance of civiliza-
ton. The Indian and African elephants
differ in a few points. Thus, while the
ear of the Indian elephant is only mod
crate in size, that of the African is 315
feet long by 215 feet broad; the Indian
elephant has four or five nails on its
hind feet, the African only three, while
the African averages a full foot taller
than the Indian. In intellectual quality
they offer but slight contrast, the ball
ance, if any, being in favor of the In
dian. In each case they live frequently
to 30 or $50 years, though the average
is, I believe, about eighty years. The
weight of a full-grown male is between
three and four tons, and a large "tusk-
err will eat more than half a ton of
green fodder in twenty-four hours
They use their trunks in gathering
leaves of the palm, fig and jak trees
and also as sort of fire hose to squirt