One caution the elephant rider should bear in mind. It is a peculiar trait of this animal to take fright from slight and often absurd causes, and sometimes he gets beyond the control of his driver. In such a case do not seek safety by slipping or jumping from his back; you may escape injury from the fall but will be in danger of being trampled to death by the elephant or pierced by his tusks. Even while he is going quietly along the road you should be careful not to fall by accident to the ground, or attempt to jump there, as he is very apt to turn and attack you.
The most docile elephants are nearly as dangerous in this respect as the ferocious ones; while the writer was in India an engineer officer was one day riding a favorite elephant that had been in his possession for years and was much attached to him. By some accident he slipped from the saddle and fell to the ground; the elephant immediately turned, and in spite of the efforts of the driver to stop him, pierced his master with his tusks, killing him almost instantly.
Another peculiarity of the elephant is to become suddenly insane from no apparent cause. The animal may be walking quietly along the road, or standing in his stable, when, without a moment's warning, he raises his trunk in the air, bellows loudly, and rushes upon the nearest man or beast with an effort to annihilate him. The paroxysm may be over in a few minutes or it may last for hours; while it continues, the beast is full of malice, and it is dangerous in the extreme to approach him.
CHAPTER XVIII.
TRAVELING WITH REINDEER AND DOGS.
Comparatively few of the readers of this volume are likely to have any practical use for information concerning the modes of traveling with reindeer and dogs, and therefore the subject will be treated very briefly. The use of these animals for riding or driving purposes is confined to the Arctic Circle, and regions adjacent to it, rarely going below the fiftieth parallel of north latitude.
In Lapland, and in some portions of Northern Siberia, the reindeer is employed to the exclusion of the dog, while in Greenland and that part of North America bordering the Arctic Ocean the dog is the only beast of burden. The American and Greenland dogs are of the variety known as Esquimaux, and closely allied to the familiar and treacherous Spitz. In Kamchatka and Northeastern Siberia both dogs and reindeer are employed for drawing sledges, and the reindeer for a saddle animal. The Kamchadale dog is quite like the Esquimaux in appearance, character, qualities, and uses, and the description of one will answer in general terms for both.
The sledge used for the reindeer in Lapland is a sort of box, not unlike a coffin in general appearance, and it has the faculty of overturning very easily. The animal is harnessed with a broad collar of deerskin, and a stout thong extends between his legs to the front of the sledge. A single rein is fastened to one of his horns, and by means of this he is guided. Sometimes there are two thongs or traces, one on each side of the deer, and when two deer are employed together they are harnessed side by side. In that case a rein is fastened to the horn of each.
In Kamchatka and Siberia the sledge is higher and broader than that of Lapland; the latter has frequently but a single runner, like a broad plank turned up at the ends, while the former has a pair of runners, each about six inches wide. Generally the occupant of the sledge is his own driver, especially if he has but a single deer, but with a fine turnout of a pair of trotters the driver sits on the forward part of the vehicle while the passenger is wrapped in his furs and takes things comfortably. The ordinary deer is not a fast animal and his speed does not exceed five or six miles an hour, but the fancy team is quite another thing. It has been known to make fifteen or sixteen miles an hour and to travel a hundred and forty miles without any rest beyond a few brief halts. A ride behind a fast reindeer has the disadvantage that the driver and passenger are pelted with balls of snow, thrown by the animals hoofs, unless the weather is so cold that the snow will not unite.
In Northeastern Siberia the reindeer is much oftener used under the saddle than with a sledge. The saddle is placed directly over the animal's withers, as the back is not strong, and will give way under the weight of an ordinary man; it is nothing but a flat pad without stirrups, and the rider, who is passing his novitiate, has no easy task. The first time he gets on he generally tumbles off on the other side at once, and even after he has succeeded in balancing himself the first step of the deer is pretty sure to send him to the ground. It is customary to carry a long stick with which to preserve the balance, and some riders provide themselves with two sticks, one on each side. The stick is absolutely necessary in mounting, as the deer is liable to be thrown down if mounted as one would mount a horse.
A hundred pounds is considered a sufficient load for an ordinary deer, and it is only the very best of the animals that can sustain the weight of a good sized man. Nature has made the inhabitants of the country of small stature and slender figures, probably in an effort to adapt them to the carrying capacities of their beasts of burden. A native rides one deer and leads a pack train of any number up to a dozen, the halter of one being fastened to the tail of his predecessor. The one that he rides is guided by a halter around the neck, and a line which is fastened to the nose in case the animal is without horns.