Having lived twenty years in “The Land of the White Elephant,” whose king has for one of his titles “The Lord of the White Elephant,” and whose flag is a white elephant on a red ground, having often ridden on elephants, and my husband having twice narrowly escaped with his life when traveling with them, once having been badly gored by one,—I may be permitted to say something not only of the white elephant, but of his less-esteemed relatives of a darker complexion.
ELEPHANTS AT HOME.
Elephants are found in great numbers and perfection in Siam and the Laos country at the north. Our missionaries at Cheung Mai, the capital city of the Laos, tell us they not unfrequently see hundreds pass in a single day, and when a prince leaves home he is accompanied by a train of two or three hundred.
They sometimes attain to the height of ten or eleven feet, but whatever their height may be, it is a fact, which we have often proved by actual measurement, that it never exceeds twice the circumference of the foot. They are very long-lived, sometimes living one hundred and fifty years or more. They are used as beasts of burden and in war, for dragging timber from the forests and for traveling, and their tusks, it is well known, are a valuable article of commerce.
AN ELEPHANT PLOUGHING.
It would be hardly possible for one to make his way through the jungles of Siam without the elephant. He does not put his foot down till he is sure it is safe to do so, and then you may feel sure too. He will remove with his trunk interlacing vines, projecting branches of trees and everything that would hinder his progress, and if necessary he will drag himself on knees or belly over a swamp. If he has a stream to cross he will first, with his proboscis, find how deep it is, then move slowly and cautiously till he gets beyond his depth, when he will swim. He will descend into ravines into which men cannot go, and will climb steep mountains. He will travel from four to five miles an hour, and when weary will make known to his driver his wish to rest by striking the ground with his trunk, making a peculiar and unmistakable noise. A large trunk is considered a mark of great beauty in an elephant, but as he always carries it himself, no one can object to it. The driver is seated astride the neck. The elephant carries his head so steadily that this is the most desirable seat, because there is the least motion. It is the seat of honor for the king, who glories in managing his own beast. The driver always carries with him a large stick, at the end of which is a sharp-pointed iron hook, with which he beats the animal, when unruly, unmercifully over the head and temples till he is subdued.