Los Angeles herald., 1907-07-14


In their wild state the elephant is grega-
rious, and roams the forests in herds, now
sadly diminished in numbers, owing to The
attacks of hunters, whose custom it has been
to kill both males and females indiscrlmi
nately.
/ was at one time in charge of a number
of these useful animals, and had ample op-
portunity of making myself acquainted with
their peculiarities.
On one occasion, female elephant, great
favorite of mine, fell sick, and j wished 20
give her a dose of bitter aloes. 10 disguise
the taste of the medicine, l had some pune
apples, of which they are extremely fond'
brought to the shed where the animal was,
and, having cut one or two up, fed her VIII
them, at the same time directing her mahout,
or driver, to cut hole in one IN winch "
place the bolus. -
This was done, a portion of the. interior
being scooped out, and the bolus placed ~ IN
side of the luscious fruit. / gave this TO the
animal, and stood talking to the Jemadar:
She went on munching contentedly, but pres
emily came to a full stop and eyed me very
hard. Seeing that appeared to take no nov
tice, she quietly inserted her trunk IN ;ier
mouth, and, taking out the Objectionable Dolus,,
quick as lightning deposited it on the grouhu
and put her foot on it.
As she caught my eye on her, and ieiI shG
was detected, she looked so ashamed that
could not help laughing, upon winch, seeing
she was to get off without punishment, anu
on my going up and speaking to the rogue,
she took me gently and caressingly round my
waist and, drawing me close to her, slppSat ,'t
her trunk into my coat-pocket and took out
some plantains l had there, and cooiiy Ie
voured them, trumpeting in the peculiar man
ner which shows they are pleased, as pre-
tended to be angry with her,
One morning / had occasion to visit some
elephants which were in the jungle about six
mics away. There was river to cross, and
when rode across it at daylight in the morn
ing, there was only little water in the cen
tire of the bed of the stream, through whlch
my pony splashed up to his knees.
| had transacted my business, and left fer
home about ten o'clock; but on my arrival
at the river, to my surprise it had risen with
that rapidity so common to rivers IL the East,
and was now running, rushing torrent.
across? The river might go down in few
hours or days.. 1t all depended on the rain
fall on the hills. | wanted to get home to
breakfast, and besides, l had an important
engagement to keep at all risk.
The bridge over the river had been carried
away the previous year, and the ruin still
lay in the river, causing an obstruction that
made the torrent foam and roar as 1T dashed
against it.
/ went to the Burman village on the banks
of the river, and the Thoo-gyee, or head man,
told me that none of his people would ven
ture to take canoe over-that it was certain
death to venture.
/ asked if he knew how 1 could get across,
and he pointed up the river, after some con-
sideration. and said | might cross there on an
elephant, but at the same time the current
might be too strong and sweep elephant and
its riders to destruction.
/ had more faith in the staying powers of
the elephant than the old Thoogyee, and rode
back to the camp, where, after consulting
with the jemadar, / selected a small female
elephant with Burman mahout, an expert
enced man, who said he was confident he
would take me safe across.
Only a numdah was carefully strapped On
its back, an extra rope tied on for me to hold
on by, and we arrived at the bank OF the
river, having about one hundred and fifty
yards of rushing water between us and the
opposite shore.
t asked the mahout if he thought we could
cross in safety, and he replied that his ee-
phant could do it, but that L would have to
hold on very hard against the current.
The elephant entered the stream without
hesitation, and in a moment was submerged.
her trunk alone appearing above water, while
the mahout and | bobbed up and down, now
easping for breath, now buried under water,
the mahout all the time steadily heading her
up stream.
And now we were in the centre, in the full
force of the current, which threatened to
sweep me off my precarious perch on the
animals back. 1t was indeed hard work to
hold on, gasping for breath as | was and
every instant submerged for what seemed to
be minutes.
AT last the animal found its footing on the
other bank, and slowly emerged, the mahout
and / dripping like water gods.
The next morning there was only the dry
sand in the bed Of the river, and my " pony
was sent back to me; but l shall never for
Get crossing that river.
One elephant, fine old tusker and valu-
able animal, had a bad reputation, it being
IL Ill ILL