An officer in the Bengal army had a very fine and favourite elephant, which was supplied daily in his presence with a certain allowance of food, but being compelled to absent himself on a journey, the keeper of the beast diminished the ration of food, and the animal became daily thinner and weaker. When its master returned, the elephant exhibited the greatest signs of pleasure; the feeding time came, and the keeper laid before it the former full allowance of food, which it divided into two parts, consuming one immediately, and leaving the other untouched. The officer, knowing the sagacity of his favourite, saw immediately the fraud that had been practiced, and made the man confess his crime.
MAY-POLES.
The May-pole, decked with garlands, round which the rustics used to dance in this month, yet stands in a few of our villages through the whole circle of the year. A May-pole formerly stood in the Strand, upon the site of the church by Somerset House, but was taken down in 1717. The village May-pole we engrave still remains by the ruins of St. Briavel Castle, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and forms an object of considerable interest to the visitor. Several in the village could remember the May-day dancers, and the removal and setting up of the May-pole. No notice whatever of this old English festival has, however, been taken for some years. The May-pole is about sixty feet high; about half-way up is the rod to which it was usual to fasten the garlands and ribbons. Let us observe, that in many parts of Dean Forest, those who love to trace the remains of old manners and customs will find ample employment. The people are civil and hospitable; their manner of address reminds us of the wording of the plays of Shakspere's times; and in most houses, if a stranger calls, cider and bread are offered, as in the olden time.
THE OLD DOG WHEEL.
About a century and a half ago, the long-backed "turnspit" dog, and the curious apparatus here shown, yclept the "Old Dog Wheel," were to be found in most farm houses; simple machinery has, however, now been substituted for the wheel which the dog was made to turn round, like the imprisoned squirrels and white mice of the present day; and not only the dog wheels, but also the long-backed "turnspit" dog have almost disappeared. That which we engrave, however, still exists, and may be seen by the curious, at the Castle of St. Briavel, which stands on the borders of the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire.
ABRAHAM AND SARAH.