Near Ayuthia, in Siam, there is a large stockade, into which the king’s elephants are driven once a year, and the finest ones are selected for use during the ensuing year. This stockade is made of posts of teak wood, driven firmly into the ground, a few feet apart. In the middle of the enclosure, thus made, is a small tower-like house, built on poles, and surrounded by strong stakes. In this are the men who are to secure the animals after they are chosen.
The king and his nobles are on a raised platform near the stockade; and they select those of the animals that have been driven into the enclosure, that they consider the most desirable.
The fine points in an elephant are these: a color approaching to white or red, black nails on the toes, and tails that have not been injured. Elephants are so fond of fighting each other that it is a rare thing to find one in a herd that has not lost some portion of its tail in a battle.
ELEPHANT HERD.
It occasionally happens, when a hunting party is out, that a white elephant is captured. This is considered a very fortunate circumstance, as the possession of a white elephant by the king is supposed to bring prosperity upon the whole kingdom. The fortunate finder of this precious animal is received with great honor upon his return to court, and is magnificently rewarded.
The elephant is placed in a large enclosure, and treated with great distinction. It is caparisoned with cloth of gold; and is fed with all the dainties that elephants like. Rings of gold are placed on its tusks, and a diadem on its head. When it is sick the court physician attends it, the priests pray for it; and when it dies the whole kingdom mourns.
Of late years the people of Siam have grown less superstitious, and do not pay as many honors to white elephants as they did while in an entirely uncivilized state. But they still retain the white elephant on their flag as the emblem of their country.
CURIOSITIES OF VEGETABLE LIFE.
It is not necessary to travel in order to find a great many curious things in vegetable growth. They lie around us everywhere.