One of the first elephants seen in London was kept in the Tower of London in the seventeenth century, and was a gift to Henry III. from Louis IX. of France. It was probably obtained from Africa when the French king invaded that country. The order relating to this elephant is still extant among the old archives, and reads thus: “We command you, that, of the farm of our city, ye cause, without delay, to be built at our Tower of London, one house of forty feet long, and twenty feet deep, for our elephant.”
It was evidently quite the custom among monarchs to send elephants to one another. Emmanuel of Portugal sent a fine one to Pope Leo X. and Cardan describes one that he saw in the sixteenth century, at the court of the Queen of Bohemia, the daughter of Charles the Fifth. As early as 802, Haroun-al-Raschid, caliph of the Saracens, sent one to Charlemagne.
The elephants of Germanicus were trained to perform many remarkable feats, as hurling javelins into the air with their trunks, and catching them. Pliny says that these elephants danced upon a rope, and their steps were so practised and certain, that four of them walked upon the rope, bearing a litter, which contained one of their companions who feigned to be sick. This would seem an exaggeration, but an elephant upon the tight-rope has been seen in this country; and ancient writers agree with Pliny that the elephants exhibited at ancient Rome could not only walk upon the rope, but retreat backwards without falling off. This performance, wonderful as it appears, is credited by nearly all the old writers. Seneca describes an elephant, who, at the command of its keeper, would bow its head, kneel, and walk upon a rope. Of course, it is impossible for an elephant to walk upon a slack rope; and those alluded to were probably of very large size, perhaps flat upon the sides, and stretched to the greatest tension, and placed near the ground.
It is evident, however, that, in some cases, the rope was high above the spectators; as one writer mentions an elephant exhibited in the presence of the Emperor Galba, which ascended to the roof of the circus, on a rope stretched in an incline, and came back in safety, bearing a man upon its back.
This performance is extremely wonderful when we remember the natural timidity of the animal, and the almost impossibility of forcing it upon a structure that is in the least unstable or frail. When elephants are marched over a bridge, they exercise the greatest caution, often trying the boards before taking the step, and displaying much sagacity.
We have seen the elephant of to-day fire a gun, play upon the hand-organ, or ring a bell: and Arrian mentions seeing an elephant who played upon the cymbals, having one attached to each knee, and bearing the third in its proboscis; thus beating a measure with great exactness, while other elephants danced about him. Busbec, ambassador from Germany to Constantinople in 1555, saw an elephant which he describes as an extremely graceful dancer and ball-player, throwing the ball, and catching it, as easily as could a man with his hands.
It is a common thing for parrots to be taught to scream out the name of prominent people, and elephants have been trained to perform a somewhat similar trick. Thus, an elephant saluted Domitian when he passed; and when the elephant presented by Emmanuel of Portugal saw Leo X., to whom he was sent as a gift, it fell upon its knees, and made a profound obeisance.
By far the best-trained elephant which was ever exhibited in London, was owned by the Duke of Devonshire, who obtained the animal in a curious manner. On being asked by a lady en route for India, what she should bring him, he replied jokingly, “Ah! nothing less than an elephant.” A few months later, he was astonished at receiving the animal, whose actions and intelligence were the admiration of the country.
The elephant was kept in a large enclosure, and treated with every kindness and attention, and developed a remarkable intelligence, soon learning to assist in many ways the man who was employed to take care of it. At his request it would go to him, take a broom, and sweep the paths or grass wherever he indicated, using her trunk to perform the work, with as much ease as a man would his hands. When he was watering the garden, it would follow him around, carrying the water-pot; always being rewarded for its faithful services with a carrot, or some other vegetable. The keeper soon found that the elephant was adroit at work of any kind. When given a bottle, it uncorked it itself, by pressing it against the ground with its foot, and holding it at an angle of forty-five degrees, carefully pulling the cork out with its trunk. When this feat was often tried for the entertainment of the duke’s friends, a soda-water bottle was used, in which the cork projected a very little above the edge. When the bottle was uncorked, she would turn her trunk around, so as to reverse it, and drink the contents with much gusto, then handing the bottle to the attendant.
Another trick it performed was equally applauded. This was to take off its blanket without the aid of its trunk. When the attendant rode it, he covered its back with a large cloth; and, when he wished to dismount, it would kneel, then rise, and, at the word of command, begin to agitate the muscles of its loins in such a manner that the housing was soon wriggled off, upon which it would take and fold it with exactness, and then toss it upon the centre of its back.