The Asiatic species, carrying the head higher, has more dignity of appearance, and is believed to have more sagacity and courage than the African ; which, however, is not inferior in weight or bulk, and has never been in the hands of such experienced managers as the Indian mohauts are, who have acquired such deep knowledge of the character of these beasts that they make them submit to almost incredible operations ; such, for example, as suffering patiently the extraction of a decayed part of a tooth, a kind of chisel and mallet being the instruments used for the purpose. This was witnessed by a medical officer, a near relative of the present writer. Elephants walk under water as long as the end of the proboscis can remain above the surface ; but when in greater depth, they float with the head and back only about a foot beneath it. In this manner they swim across the broadest streams, and guide themselves by the sense of smelling till they reach footing to look about them and land. They are steady, assiduous workers in many laborious tasks, often using discretion when they require some dexterity and attention in the performance. Good-will is all man can trust to in directing them, for cor rection cannot be enforced beyond their patience; but flattery, good treatment, kind words, pro mises, and rewards, even to the wear of finery, have the desired effect. In history they appear most conspicuous as formidable elements of battle. From the remotest ages they were trained for war by the nations of India, and by their aid they no doubt acquired and long held possession of several regions of High Asia westward of the Indus. They are noticed in the ancient Alahabarata. Ac cording to Sauti the relative force of elephants in an akshaushini, or great army corps, was one to each chariot of war, three horsemen, and five foot soldiers, or rather archers,mounted on the animal's back within a defensible houdah —in the west denominated a castle. Thus one armed elephant, one chariot, and three horsemen, formed a patti or squad of at most eleven men, and if there were other bodies of infantry in the army they are un noticed. This enumeration is sufficient to skew that in India, which furnished the elephants and the model of arming them, there were only four or five archers with or without the mohaut or driver, and that, consequently, when the successors of Alexander introduced them in their wars in Syria, Greece, and even Italy, they could not be encum bered more than perhaps momentarily with one or two additional persons before a charge ; for the weight carried by a war-elephant is less than that of one used for burthen, which seldom equals two thousand pounds. In order to ascend his back
when suddenly required, the animal will hold out one of his hind legs horizontally, allowing a person to step upon it until he has grasped the crupper and crept up. In the West, where they were con sidered for a time of great importance, no doubt the squad or escort of each animal was more con siderable than in the East, and may have amounted to thirty-two foot-soldiers; the number given, by some mistake, as if actually mounted, in i Maccab. vi. 37.
Although red colours are offensive to many animals, it may be observed that the use of mul berry juice or grapes must have been intended as an excitement to their taste, for they are all fond of fruit. Wine, so as to cause an approach to in toxication, would render them ungovernable, and more dangerous than when in a state of fear. They do not require stimulants to urge them on in a modern battle, 'with all its flashes of fire, smoke, and explosion ; and red colours usually employed for their trappings produce more of a satisfactory feeling than rage. Judicious and long-continued training is the only good remedy against sudden surprises caused by objects not yet examined by their acutely judging senses, or connected with former scenes of danger, which are alone apt to make them turn. It is likely that the disciplined steadiness of well-armed ranks frightened them by their novelty more than the shouts of Mace donian thousands, which must have been feeble in the ears of elephants accustomed to the roar of hundreds of thousands of Indians. It is probable that the Carthaginians made the experiment of training African elephants in imitation of Ptolemy Philadelphus : they are noticed in their army only in the first Punic war; and, from what appears of the mode of managing them, there is reason to believe, as already noticed, that they were never so thoroughly subdued as the Indian elephants. C. H. S.