“After the elephant combats were over, the king prepared to take his departure. His elephant, one of the noblest animals I have ever seen, having the trunk, head, and part of the neck, of a white flesh-color, and in other respects altogether perfect, was brought up close to the shed under which we were sitting; and he mounted it with great agility, placed himself upon the neck of the animal, took the hook in his hand, and seemed to be perfectly at home in this employment. We afterwards saw the heir-apparent, a child of thirteen years of age, guiding his elephant in the same way. This practice is, I believe, peculiar to the Burmans; for, in Western India at least, no person of condition ever condescends to guide his own elephant. There is, at least, some manliness in the custom; and I should not be surprised to find that the neck of the elephant would be found, on experience, the most agreeable and easy seat to the rider.”
The Emperor Akbar, in the same manner, rode every kind of elephant, making them obedient to his command.
Timour’s elephant team is described by Sir John Mandeville as presenting a remarkable appearance: “A chariot with four wheels, upon which is a fair chamber of sweet-smelling lignum aloes, which is within covered with plates of fine gold, dubbed with precious stones and great pearls, and drawn by four elephants.” Jehanghir rode through the streets of his capital on an elephant, followed by “twenty royal elephants for his own ascending, so rich, that in precious stones and furniture they braved the sun.”
The famous tree-mound of Kublai Khan was built by the aid of elephants. “Not far from the palace,” says an old writer, “on the northern side, and about a bow-shot distance from the surrounding wall, is an artificial mound of earth, the height of which is full an hundred paces, and the circuit at the base about a mile. It is clothed with the most beautiful evergreen-trees: for, whenever his majesty receives information of a handsome tree growing in any place, he causes it to be dug up; however large and heavy it may be, he has it transported by elephants to this mount.”
When Timour built his great mosque at Samarcand, he employed ninety-five elephants to draw the stones. In the early days of ship-building in India, these huge animals were engaged to haul the vessels from the stocks; and Verthema, who travelled in India in 1503, gives the following example of their power:—
“I saw an instance of the extraordinary strength of these animals while at Cananore, where some Mahometans endeavored to draw a ship on the land, stern foremost, upon three rollers; on which occasion three elephants, commodiously applied, drew with great force, and, bending their heads down to the ground, brought the ship on the land.”
Another writer states that he saw a tree overthrown by an elephant, which twenty-three men had attempted in vain.
In the war of Coromandel, in 1751, the gates of the fort of Ponomaley were attacked by elephants, whose heads had been covered with iron plates for the purpose.
Among the curious uses to which elephants have been put, may be mentioned fishing. A hunter came to a pool in the valley of the Chengree, India, once, with about twenty-five elephants. The natives discovered that it was alive with fish; but there were no boats. No one had a line; and, even if they had, the water was too shallow near shore, and too deep in the centre. The sportsman solved the difficulty by mustering all the elephants without their gear: then providing themselves with spears and baskets, the natives mounted the elephants, and commanded them to wade in. This they quickly did, rather enjoying the sport, and soon, by stirring up the mud, had the finny occupants of the pool flying about in all directions. Very soon the large fish began to come to the surface; and the elephants began to chase them, guided by their mahouts, who struck them with their spears; and, as soon as one was impaled, it was drawn upon the elephant, beheaded, and thrown into the basket. According to the hunter, who invented this curious method of fishing, the elephants exhibited remarkable sagacity in following the game, abstaining, at a hint from the mahout, from blowing under water, as they are apt to do, or splashing, indeed, acting exactly as if they knew that a noise of any kind would retard the progress of the sport. Sometimes several elephants would start after the same fish; and, as the water was four or five feet deep, the scene would become intensely exciting, the men standing on the great animals, and literally using them as boats. Occasionally a man would lose his balance, and tumble over, to rise, gasping, and half-strangled by the muddy water which soon dried, and gave them the appearance of having been white-washed. One elephant stepped into a deep hole, and nearly turned a somerset, tossing the men into the water; and, all in all, it was a very laughable and amusing sight to witness, and withal successful, as seventy pounds of fish were caught from the fleet of elephants.
Even after death, the elephant is of more or less value, exclusive of its ivory. In various countries certain portions, as the head and tongue, are esteemed as articles of food. The bones are used in Ceylon in enriching estates. The hair of the tail is utilized by native goldsmiths in bracelets, and teeth are well known as ivory. The feet are mounted as seats and footstools; and the great ears of the African elephant are harnessed to oxen, and dragged about to convey merchandise of various kinds. Sir Samuel Baker says that he has often used the large, soft ear of the African elephant as a couch after the fatigues of the hunt.