TAME ELEPHANTS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3379, 6 December 1889, Page 2

TAME ELEPHANTS.

There was au elephant named Bombera; who' was; employed con- . structmg : -a ; stone'.dam,;intended''to ; <■ ■ close up a river, and thereby form a "X" lake at Newera : ''Elliya in Ceylon. 1 To watch, this elephant worlriug was one of the sigiiis. of She '• place. .He. first of all drew down from the quarry v the huge stono that was to be used: lie then undid the chain by which he had drawn it. He next proceeded toroll it with' his'forehead along th/A .5 narrow stone embankment, or rathe 261'. wall, till he fitted it exactly into its** place. Oil one side of the wall was a . precipice, and on the other a deep i lake. As the stone was being pushed > >' : by his forehead, it would at one time incline to the lake, at another over the precipice; bat lie imnledi- : ately made it straight again with hisi > foot. He was doing as much work

as ten men, far more quickly and with tho accuracy of a skilled mason. ■■;■ On one occasion several friends ;were , ; present''Watching ithe pro'ceedin'g|jL , ■"■ There was a heavy sledge hammer lying on the ground, aud someone asked if he would take it up and break a vory'.,largd, Jock lying close to it. The officer iri charge of the work said wo,w.ere..asking too much, but the mahout, who heard the oonver-" sation, replied gravely. "Bombera can . , and will do everything he is asked;','"' - and ho said somothing to the eta phant, who took up the sledge hammer* as if it wore a feather, and knocked tho stono to pieces in a few 'mm. ■utos, ''Now take your pipe aud smoke it," said the mahout; upon which the animal stuck the hammer in his mouth and walked oft--with it as if he wore enjoying a niorj &■ ing smoke. My acquaintance wit* ' him soon ripened into deep affection

on both sides. Whon lie was first introduced to me he was ordered to kneel and salaam by rubbing his forehead in the dust, and then to rise up and trumpet his .'greeting. After he had gone through his salutations

I gave him a basketful of fruit leayrj. togs,' The same proceedings,,tods'*" place for the next two or threa'days, nud after that ; the moment he heard the bells of my ponies nothing would restrain him. .Off ho came to greet me, prostrated himsolf at my feot, rubbed 1113 forehead in the dust, and trumpeted vigorously for his fruit, It

was at first rather formidable, the

charge of such a huge monster right down upon one, but there was no dinger. He used generally to remaiii by my side while I was looking at tho work, end more than once I have felfc

somethmg like a leaf touching my ear, md on looking un found that

Bombera had advanced quite nojalossly, and was'gently holding it hi- .:-. his trunk as a token of his love, One of the' first questions I asked • • on arriving in Ceylon was about my dear friend Bombera, and; I.heard with much regret that ho had died of >a some internal complaint at the early age of thivty-five, universally loved and regretted! r ~ On another occasion I was down iu the eastern province, and.wjL •' ' delighted with the intelligence ana' gentleness of a huge femalo elephant who was working' at a new bridge. She really seemed able to do everything but spoak, and was a thorough favorite of tho whole pioneer force stationed on tho spot. Tho officers in charge of tho work told me a curious story. ■ Somo three or four years previously this elephant had a yp,ung one—a' very rare occunenco among elephants in captivity. She was perfectly, devoted to her calf; but 1 it died, and sho was inconsolable, and froinjbeing the gentlest creature she

became irritable, and oven dangerous. One morning it was announced to the young officer that she had broken

the chain which had confined her, and had escaped into the forest. Trackers were sent out in every direction, but as wild elephants wcro in abundance all around it was ■im-

possible to brace her. The loss of

such an animal was a heavy one, tho works were much rotarded, and there

was general tribulation in quo Doe. One night, about : ten' after the escapo, the officer in questioJfi went out to lie in -wait'for bears a pond in the junglo sonio distance" off, As he :and his native attendant wore returning early the next morning the native silently nudged him, and they saw in the dim grey light an elephant with lior calf making, her 'way along the newly-formed road towards the camp. They both sprang behind trees, and j.wben the elephants passed the native insisted that it was their old friend. They hurried back as fast as they could, and found .•the. camp in a ferment. Suro enough the truant had returned, and she appeared to be quite as joyful as the rest of the assemblage going from one'to another and touching them with her' trunk, as if-she were exhibiting her adopted child. Her good tempor. and'usual docility oompletely returned at onco. , ; In theyear 187-1, Princess Augustus

and Phillip of Saxe-Coburg paid a -■visit to Ceylon, and exprossed a wiJL: to seo elephants working. Tlus wore uono belonging to the Depart, rhent of Work at Kandy, where they were staying; but the guardian of the temple lent a couple of elephants i* belonging to it. They did. thoywere ordered to do with their usual intelligence—carrying large stones wherever thoy were told to placo

them, fixing the chains to the stones and unfixing them; hut one of them, a tusker, on that o:casion performed an act entirely of his own accord which greatly struck me. Ho was carrying & long and ver> heavy stone down a steep declivity. The stone was suspended from his neck by a chain, and as somewhat long the stono struck repeatedly against his knees, He stopped.raade what sailors call abight of the chain, gave it a roll round his tusk.and having thus shortened itcarried the stone to its destination without further trouble to his , knees. What the mahout said to him, • or whether he said anything, I do not know; but it is difficult to that out of the eighty phrases whim" a very highly educated elephant is supposed, to understand their would ; havo'beenone framed for such an emergency as this, and if there. waß hot, surely'it."was: 'tho,;: clearest oxereiso of the reasoning faculty pure and simplo,which prompted.tbis act. W. F, Gregory, in 'Murray's " Magazine.'

The borrowings in Europo by the Argentine Republic are roughly put at i' 100,000,000, and tho amount due ■annually by tho Government; provincos, ift and industrial counties, and, which to be remitted Howe, liabout £7,loo,os'"' &t'«lU)|j,