As these pink-splashed elephants are so esteemed, it is not to be wondered at that there is constant search for them in the jungle; and the fortune of him is made who discovers one. They are, however, comparatively rare; and in thirteen hundred and fifty-two years, between A.D. 515 and 1867, only twenty-four were captured, making about one in every fifty-six years. The last one was captured in 1885, and was conducted to the court of the King of Siam by His Royal Highness Somdetch Chowf Mahamalah Bamrahp Parapako, amid much parade. His Majesty accepted it, and made the fortunate finder, a poor native, a present of a sum of money, as well as his mother and son. The Siamese officials who brought the elephant to Bangkok, were honored with an audience by His Majesty, and also given valuable presents.
In former days the ceremonies attending the capture of a white elephant were very impressive. The discoverer, were he the humblest man in the kingdom, was immediately made a mandarin: he was exempted from taxation for the remainder of his life, and presented with large sums of money, the king himself giving him one thousand dollars. As soon as the capture was made, a special courier was despatched to the king, and a posse of nobles with gifts and robes started immediately for the scene of action. The ropes which the captors used in binding the royal victim were replaced by stout cords of scarlet silk. Mandarins attended to the slightest wants of the animal. Rich feather-fans with gilt handles were used to keep the insects from it during the day, while a silk embroidered mosquito-net was provided at night. To remove it to the capital, a boat was built especially for the purpose, and a magnificent canopy erected over it, ornamented and bedecked as were the king’s palaces. Silk draperies, heavy with gold and silver, enclosed the royal prisoner; and in this state he floated down the river, receiving the acclamations of the people. When near the city, it was landed, the king and his court going out to meet and escort it to the city, where a place had been built for it within the royal palace-grounds. A large tract of land was set apart for his country-place, chosen from the best the kingdom afforded. A cabinet of ministers was appointed, and a large retinue of other nobles, to attend to its wants. The priest of the king was ordered to administer to its spiritual needs, and it had physicians to see to its physical requirements. Gold and silver dishes were supplied to feed it from, and every want was attended to as became one of the royal family. The city devoted three days to festivities, and the rich mandarins made it rare presents.
When a white elephant died, the ceremonies were the same as those of a king or queen. The body lay in state for several days; and then it was placed upon a funeral pyre, and cremated. This pyre often cost thousands of dollars, being made of the choicest sandal, sassafras, and other valuable woods. After the body had been thoroughly cremated, it was allowed to remain three days more; then the ashes were collected, and placed in costly urns, and buried in the royal cemetery, a magnificent mausoleum being erected over the spot.
A friend of the author, who visited the land of the white elephant a few years ago, states that, when he observed a white elephant, about twenty natives were standing around, whom he was informed by the guide were mandarins and nobles of the highest class, who formed the cabinet of the elephant: in fact, they were a body selected for their dignity and rank. One was chief minister of the cabinet, and the others held different offices. Other nobles were attached directly to the person of his celestial highness. One fed him with bananas and rare fruits difficult to obtain: another gently brushed away the flies from its head, and created a breeze. About the room were various objects which bespoke its royal nature. The ropes, umbrellas, and blankets were of the finest description, many being ornamented with seeming gems. Later he witnessed the ceremony of the bath; and no spectacle, he said, that he had ever observed in America, began to compare with it. The entire city seemed to turn out and make a holiday of the occasion. When the march was taken up, the elephant stepped out heavily caparisoned. Elegant silks, trimmed with scarlet, silver, white, and gold, depended from its back: over its head was held the royal umbrella, a gorgeous affair, supported by gilded rods held in the hands of eight mandarins, four of whom marched on each side. On the animal’s tusks were bands of solid gold; and as he moved solemnly along, surrounded by other nobles, his ministers, and attendants, all in rich garbs, with a shouting but respectful crowd all about it, it was certainly an impressive and wonderful sight. At the river the trappings were taken off, and the elephant plunged in and enjoyed himself after the manner of plebeian elephants. When the bath was finished, its feet were re-washed, and dried on a silken towel: the silks and rich stuffs were then replaced, a band of music struck up, and the procession took up the return march. Once at court, the newly captured white elephant is honored by titles which are conferred upon him by the king, some of which are “Gem of the Sky,” “Glory of the Land,” “Radiance of the World,” “Leveller of the Earth,” etc.
The king often took advantage of the capture of an elephant, to replenish the royal treasury; and, when the animal was housed in the palace, an invitation was sent out to the rich merchants to come and pay their respects. This meant literally to make presents to the white elephant, which, of course, were used by the king. People who wished to obtain favors from His Majesty, took this occasion to offer valuable gifts. In some cases, it was money; in others, objects of art; and one present was a vase of solid gold weighing four hundred and eighty ounces.
Zachard, an old traveller, saw a white elephant in Siam which was said to be over two hundred years old, over which there had been much blood shed. It lived in a magnificent pavilion, and had one hundred attendants, who fed it from vessels of gold. When Mr. Crawford was in Siam, the king had six white elephants; and the King of Ava possessed only one, which was fastened directly in front of the palace. While Mr. Crawford was in Ava, a report was sent to the king that a white elephant had been captured, but it could not be forwarded without the destruction of ten thousand baskets of rice. To which the king replied, “What signifies the destruction of ten thousand baskets of rice in comparison with the possession of a white elephant!” and the order for the beast was immediately given.
The white elephant now in the possession of the King of Ava, who styles himself “Lord of the White Elephant,” is, according to Vincent, a vicious brute of medium size, with white eyes, and the forehead and ears spotted white (pink), appearing as if they had been rubbed with pumice stone or sand-paper; but the remainder of the body is as black as coal. The animal is kept chained in the centre of a pavilion, surrounded by the adjuncts of royalty, which consist of gold and white cloth umbrellas, an embroidered canopy, a bundle of spears, dishes, etc. Mr. Vincent was informed that a young white elephant had recently been captured in the north-eastern part of British Burmah, near Tounghoo; but it died, and the king had been “out of sorts” ever since.
Mr. Vincent also inspected the white elephants at Bangkok, and found them fastened to posts in large sheds, covered with gilt canopies very much as were those at Mandalay. The keeper fed the animals with bananas in his presence, and caused the Apis of Buddha, as they call the animal, to salute an American, probably for the first time. The salaam, or salutation, consisted in raising the proboscis to the forehead, and then lowering it slowly and gracefully to the ground.
With these white elephants were several white monkeys, which were kept to ward off evil spirits. White animals of all kinds are considered abodes of transmigrating souls by Buddhists. Sir John Bowring saw the white monkey honored with special attention. The veneration received by white elephants may perhaps be explained by the fact that all white animals are believed to be the abiding-place of some mighty Buddha; and by possessing such an animal, having the deity in the family, as it were, they may receive any advantages that may accrue from the association.
Curiously enough, with the downfall of the infamous Theebaw came that of his white elephant. The king left Mandalay, Nov. 29, 1885, accompanied by his queen, Soopyalot. The day the city fell, the white elephant died; and its body was dragged out of the palace-yard by the British troops on the following day. It was reported that the king ordered its destruction rather than have such a prize fall into the hands of the British.