A very singular account of the use to which a camel is sometimes put is given by the traveler Bruce. He tells us that he saw one employed to appease a quarrel between two parties, somewhat in the same way as the scape-goat was used in the religious sacrifices of the Jewish people. The camel being brought out, was accused of all the injuries, real or fancied, which belonged to each. All the mischief that had been done they accused this camel of doing. They upbraided it with being the cause of all the trouble that had separated friends, called it by every opprobious epithet, finally killed it, and then declared themselves reconciled over its body.
The Mark of the Cross on the Ass.
It is a common superstition that the dark marks across the shoulders of the ass, and which bear some resemblance to a cross, were given as memorials of our Saviour having entered Jerusalem riding on one of that humble species. In the north of England, however, a tradition prevails that the dark streaks are a memento of Balaam's having thrice smitten one of the family, which carried him, and, as the Bible states, reproved him for wilful disobedience of the Divine command.
White Elephants.
White elephants are reverenced throughout the East, and the Chinese pay them a certain kind of worship. The Burmese monarch is called "The King of the White Elephants," and is regarded under that title with more than ordinary veneration, which oriental despotism extracts from its abject dependants.
Tenacity of Life in an Elephant.
In March, 1826, it became necessary to kill an infuriated elephant at Exeter Change, in London. One hundred and fifty-two bullets were fired into him at short range, and directed toward vital parts, before he fell dead. It was found necessary to kill an elephant at Geneva, May 31st, 1820. Three ounces of prussic acid and three ounces of arsenic were administered, but produced no effect. He was shot by a cannon thrust through a breach in the wall, the muzzle almost touching him. The ball entered near the ear, behind the right eye, went through a thick partition on the opposite side of the enclosure, and spent itself against a wall. The animal stood still two or three seconds, then tottered, and fell without any convulsive movement.
Ears of the Elephant.
The ears of the African elephant are said to be much larger, in proportion to the size of the animal, than those of the Indian species. Baker, the African traveler, says that he has frequently cut off an ear of one of these animals to form a mat, on which he has slept comfortably.