Chapter I: Preface

The elephant is the true king of beasts, the largest and most powerful of existing land animals, and to young and old a never ceasing source of wonder and interest. In former geological ages, it roamed the continental areas of every zone; was found in nearly every section of North America, from the shores of the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and from New England to California. Where the hum of great cities is now heard, in bygone days the trumpeting of the mastodon and elephant, and the cries of other strange animals, broke the stillness of the vast primeval forest. But they have all passed away, their extirpation undoubtedly hastened by the early man, the aboriginal hunter; and the mighty race of elephants, which now remains so isolated, is to-day represented by only two species, the African and the Asiatic, forms which are also doomed.

To produce the eight hundred tons of ivory used annually, nearly seventy-five thousand elephants are destroyed; and it does not require the gift of prophecy to foresee their extinction in the near future. The Asiatic elephant is said to be holding its own; but the rapid advance of the British in the East, the introduction of railroads and improvements which mark the progress of civilization in India, where heretofore the elephant has been employed, cannot fail to have a fatal effect, and their extermination is only a matter of time. Knowing these facts, and the close relationship which the elephant has ever held in the advancement of mankind in the East, it stands a picture of absorbing interest, the last of a powerful race, worthy of earnest efforts for its preservation. The question of its extinction rests with the rising generation. In America and England the ornithologists have made an appeal for our feathered friends, and ladies have been asked to put their veto upon the excessive use of feathers, which is surely tending to the extermination of our birds. The elephant can be protected in the same way. Every ivory tusk that is brought to the African coast from the interior is said to cost a human life; and that we may have ivory fans, billiard-balls, chessmen, knife-handles, inlaid furniture, grotesque Japanese statuary, etc., the elephant, who has been man’s helpmate from 1200 B.C., and perhaps earlier, to the present day, is threatened with extermination. The prominence of the elephant in early times is, I think, not generally appreciated. There was hardly a great public movement entailing war, in the early days of the East, in which these animals did not constitute an all-important element. Defeat and success were, as a rule, determined by the number of elephants; and the fate of nations may be said to have depended upon the prowess of the proboscidians.

In the present volume, I have endeavored to present as much of the history of the elephant as is compatible with popular interest, treating the animal in all its relations to man, and the economic questions involved: in war, pageantry, sports and games, as a faithful laborer and servant, comrade and friend, its ancestral forms, structure and anatomy. As the work is in no sense a scientific one, the student may regret the absence of details relating to anatomy, etc. To compensate for such omission, I have appended a carefully selected bibliography of all the most important works, papers, and monographs, ancient and recent, relating to the subject.

I am indebted to Mr. George P. Sanderson, officer in charge of the elephant-catching establishment at Mysore, Bengal, whose valuable work embracing his experience with the Asiatic elephant has been frequently consulted; also to the works of Sir Emerson Tennent, and especially to the author of “Menageries,” published by Messrs. Charles Knight & Co., London.

C. F. H.

NEW YORK, June 1, 1886.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ELEPHANT 1

II. HABITS AND WAYS OF ELEPHANTS 12

III. THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE ELEPHANT 27

IV. THE MAMMOTH 36

V. THREE AND FOUR TUSKED ELEPHANTS (MASTODONS) 49

VI. JUMBO 64

VII. HOW ASIATIC ELEPHANTS ARE CAPTURED ALIVE 77

VIII. ASIATIC ELEPHANTS IN CAPTIVITY 91

IX. HUNTING THE ASIATIC ELEPHANT 97

X. THE WHITE ELEPHANT 117

XI. ELEPHANTS IN CEYLON 137

XII. ROGUE ELEPHANTS 148

XIII. HUNTING THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT 164

XIV. BABY ELEPHANTS 179

XV. TRICK ELEPHANTS 184

XVI. ELEPHANTS AND THEIR FRIENDS 192

XVII. TUSKERS AT WORK 195

XVIII. IVORY 217

XIX. THE ELEPHANT IN THE ARTS 231

XX. ELEPHANTS IN THE AMPHITHEATRE 241

XXI. THE ELEPHANT IN PAGEANTRY 249

XXII. WAR ELEPHANTS OF MODERN ASIA 255

XXIII. WAR ELEPHANTS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND HIS SUCCESSORS 277

XXIV. WAR ELEPHANTS OF THE ROMANS AND CARTHAGINIANS 293

XXV. PROBOSCIDIAN FICTIONS 309

BIBLIOGRAPHY 317

INDEX 325

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Frontispiece. A TIGER’S ATTACK, Facing Title.

FACING PAGE

PLATE I. ELEPHANT’S SKULL AND TRUNK, 4

” II. ELEPHANTS MOVING TIMBER, 20

” III. THE SIBERIAN MAMMOTH, 30

— A MAMMOTH HUNT, 36

” IV. ST. PETERSBURG MUSEUM, 48

” V. COHOES MASTODON, 58

” VI. THE DINOTHERIUM, 64

” VII. AFRICAN ELEPHANT, JUMBO, 72

” VIII. BABY JUMBO, 80

” IX. ASIATIC ELEPHANT, 88

” X. HUNTING THE ELEPHANT WITH SWORDS, 100

” XI. THE WHITE ELEPHANT, TOUNG TALOUNG, 120

” XII. HERD OF ELEPHANTS, CEYLON, 140

” XIII. AFRICAN ELEPHANT, 166

” XIV. HEBE AND BABY BRIDGEPORT, 180

” XV. ELEPHANT CARRYING LOGS, 200

” XVI. ASIATIC ELEPHANT AND TIGER, 218

” XVII. STATUE OF JUPITER, 238

” XVIII. PREHISTORIC STONE PIPES, 246

” XIX. THE PRINCE OF WALES AT LAHORE, 255

” XX. THE PRINCE OF WALES AT AGRA, 270

” XXI. ANCIENT ELEPHANT MEDALLIONS, 280

” XXII. ” ” ” 290

_Chapter V._]

THE IVORY KING.