Round-about Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy | Page 7

Elephants which the party were after on that particular day had got out
of the sight of the hunters, and this boy, being mounted on a horse,
went to look them up. It was not long before he found them, and he
also found much more than he had bargained for. He found that one of
the big fellows was very much inclined to hunt him and he came riding
out of the forest as hard as he could go, with a great Elephant full tilt
after him. Fortunately for the boy, the Duke was ready with his gun,
and when the Elephant came dashing up he put two balls into his head.

The great beast dropped mortally wounded, and the boy was saved. I
don't believe that he was so curious about the whereabouts of Elephants
after that.
[Illustration]
When the Elephant is desired as a servant, he is captured in various
ways. Sometimes he is driven into great pens; sometimes he tumbles
into pitfalls, and sometimes tame Elephants coax him into traps, and
fondle and amuse him while their masters tie up his legs with strong
ropes. The pitfalls are not favorite methods of capturing Elephants.
Besides the injury that may be done to the animal, other beasts may fall
into and disturb the trap, and even men may find themselves at the
bottom of a great deep hole when they least expect it, for the top is very
carefully covered over with sticks and leaves, so as to look as much as
possible like the surrounding ground. Du Chaillu, who was a great
hunter in Africa, once fell down one of these pits, and it was a long
time before he could make anybody hear him and come and help him
out. If an Elephant had happened to put his foot on the covering of that
hole while Du Chaillu was down there, the hunter would have found
himself very much crowded.
When the Elephant is caught, he is soon tamed and trained, and then he
goes to work to make himself useful, if there is anything for him to do.
And it is when he becomes the servant and companion of man that we
have an opportunity of seeing what a smart fellow he is.
It is sometimes hard to believe all that we hear of the Elephant's
cleverness and sagacity, but we know that most of the stories we hear
about him are true.
For instance, an Elephant which was on exhibition in this country had a
fast and true friend, a little dog. One day, when these animals were
temporarily residing in a barn, while on their march from one town to
another, the Elephant heard some men teasing the dog, just outside of
the barn. The rough fellows made the poor little dog howl and yelp, as
they persecuted him by all sorts of mean tricks and ill usage. When the
Elephant heard the cries of his friend he became very much worried,

and when at last he comprehended that the dog was being badly treated,
he lifted up his trunk and just smashed a great hole in the side of the
barn, making the stones and boards fly before him.
[Illustration]
When the men saw this great head sticking out through the side of the
barn, and that great long trunk brandishing itself above their heads,
they thought it was time to leave that little dog alone.
Here, again, is an Elephant story which is almost as tough as the
animal's hide, but we have no right to disbelieve it, for it is told by very
respectable writers. During the war between the East Indian natives and
the English, in 1858, there was an Elephant named Kudabar Moll the
Second,--his mother having been a noted Elephant named Kudabar
Moll. This animal belonged to the British army, and his duty was to
carry a cannon on his back. In this way he became very familiar with
artillery. During a battle, when his cannon was posted on a battery, and
was blazing away at the enemy, the good Kudabar was standing,
according to custom, a few paces in the rear of the gunners. But the fire
became very hot on that battery, and very soon most of the gunners
were shot down, so that there was no one to pass the cartridges from the
ammunition wagon to the artillery-men. Perceiving this, Kudabar,
without being ordered, took the cartridges from the wagon, and passed
them, one by one, to the gunner. Very soon, however, there were only
three men left, and these, just as they had loaded their cannon for
another volley, fell killed or wounded, almost at the same moment. One
of them, who held a lighted match in his hand, called as he fell to