THE TAME ELEPHANT. 223

not rational and preconcerted co-operation throughout the
whole party, and a degree of responsible authority exercised
by the patriarch leader.

“When the poor animals had gained possession of the tank
(the leader being the last to enter), they seemed to abandon
themselves to enjoyment without restraint or apprehension
of danger. Such a mass of animal life I had never before
seen huddled together in so narrow a space. It seemed to
me as if they would have nearly drunk the tank dry. I
watched them with great interest until they had satisfied
themselves as well in bathing as in drinking, when I tried
how small a noise would apprise them of the proximity of
unwelcome neighbours. I had but to break a little twig, and
the solid mass instantly took flight like a herd of frightened
deer, each of the smaller calves being apparently shouldered
and carried along between two of the older ones. In drink-
ing, the elephant, like the camel, although preferring water
pure, shows no decided aversion to it when discoloured with
mud; and the eagerness with which he precipitates himself
into the tanks and streams attests his exquisite enjoyment of
the fresh coolness, which to him is the chief attraction. In
crossing deep rivers, although his rotundity and buoyancy
enable him to swim with a less immersion than other quad-
rupeds, he generally prefers to sink till no part of his huge
body is visible except the lip of his trunk through which he
breathes, moving beneath the surface, and only now and
then raising his head to look that he is keeping the proper
direction.”

Wlephant The affection shown by elephants for each
Friendships. other has often had pathetic illustration. Two
elephants, male and female, which had been brought separately
to Paris, were placed in adjoining apartments divided by a
portcullis.° The male soon discovered that this was fastened
by a bolt well within his reach, and hastily withdrawing it rushed
ints tbe other apartment. The meeting is described ag in-