ELEPHANTS, HISTORICAL 163
occasion of Lord Curzon's assumption of the dignity of viceroy:*
"How
shall I describe the retinue of elephants? I tear my hair, and think,
and think, until I feel I must go mad, I see it all so clearly—can I
not coin words? Can I not dip my pen in purple and gold? It was almost
like looking at the sun. Yellow specks danced in front of one's
eyes—one had to turn away into the gray courtyard, and lose an
elephant or two, to get relief. You could not see the procession in a
continuous way as a whole because of the blinding colour. An elephant
would pass covered with cloth of gold and ropes of pearls. 'This is the
finest of all,' you would say; 'colour has gone as far as it can go.'
Then suddenly another marvellous combination would spring upon you: a
group of elephants in gold, emerald green, and jewels, looking like
bubbles ready to burst with brilliance, and making the surrounding
colours faded and paler by comparison."
A
recent traveller in India and the contiguous lands has communicated
from personal experience some interesting notes on the intelligence and
peculiarities of elephants. A striking proof of their thoughtfulness is
the fact that they always take every possible precaution to avoid
striking the howdah, or saddle, which they bear, against any
obstruction, even stopping to remove this when necessary. On one
occasion mentioned by the traveller, a tree eight inches in diameter
had fallen across the path against the trees on the opposite side, so
as to leave ample room for the elephant itself to pass beneath but not
enough for the passage of the howdah. The animal was quickly conscious
of this, and checking its advance, thrust the tree out of the way with
its trunk so that the howdah could pass without impediment. Similar
care was taken in the many narrow pathways which had to be traversed
through the jungle. This evinces the
♦Mortimer Menpes, "The Durbar," London, 1903, pp. 4β, 47.
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