“That story is in one of the books on the sagacity of animals,” Mr. Graham answered. Then, turning to George, he said they would now listen to something from M. Jacolliott about the mode of catching wild elephants in India and Ceylon.
Thereupon George read as follows:
“Mounted on well trained elephants, the ordinary dangers of hunting are readily comprehended and foreseen; the intelligence of these splendid animals is sufficient to inspire confidence. Nevertheless, grave accidents may arise. When the elephant becomes enraged in his pursuit of a tiger, it sometimes happens that he listens to no voice whatever, dashing madly onward until the 'howdah,' in which the hunter is enclosed, is broken in pieces against a huge tree, branch, or other obstacle.
“It is extraordinary, in hunting wild elephants, that the trained beasts, once on the field, have no other guide than their own instincts. At the first sight of a human form the hunted animal retreats immediately to the thicket, where pursuit is very likely to end in a catastrophe to the pursuers; or, the wild elephants, sometimes being assembled in force, will turn courageously to give battle to the trained animals, of which battle the result can never be foreseen.
“In these expeditions, the slightest carelessness will sometimes reveal the lurking-place of the hunters; the chase is only undertaken with twice as many trained elephants as there are wild ones to be captured, and then only when it has been ascertained by trustworthy scouts that there are no large troops of elephants within a circle of forty or fifty miles. The utmost care is used in this respect. When there is no other way, the Hindoos who make a profession of elephant-hunting sometimes attack with an inferior force, but the European, who follows the chase for pleasure, does not fail to take all necessary precautions.”
“The following is an account of one of these hunts:
“The last commands had hardly been given to Manjari, the chief elephant, by his master, when he started, at the head of his little troop, to descend the hill on the opposite side to that by which we had ascended; he marched slowly, giving no evidence of his intention to rejoin the party which he was leaving behind. The intelligent animal played his part to perfection; he moved slowly, with his companions, toward the stream which wound through the depth of the ravine, as if he intended to slake his thirst at the water. On his way down he stopped here and there to break a tree branch or to pick up a bunch of grass, which he lazily deposited in his mouth.
“The wild elephants, resting in the valley, gazed on Manjari and his troop with curiosity but without, alarm; every movement proved that they had no suspicion of the intentions of the new-comers.
“Suddenly we witnessed a remarkable sight. A young elephant, which was in the wild herd with its mother, seeing Manjari and his companions advancing slowly, bounded toward them to make acquaintance with the strangers.