surface attract an amount of heat which becomes almost insupportable to
the unfortunate creature when forced to carry a heavy load during the
hot season in India. Even without a greater weight than its rider, the
elephant exhibits signs of distress when marching after 9 a.m. At such
times it is disagreeable, as the animal has a peculiar habit of sucking
water through the trunk from a supply contained within the stomach, and
this it syringes with great force between its fore legs, and against its
flanks to cool its sides with the ejected spray. The rider receives a
portion of the fluid in his face, and as the action is repeated every
five minutes, or less, the operation is annoying.

It is a curious peculiarity in the elephant that it is enabled to suck
up water at discretion simply by doubling the trunk far down the throat,
and the fluid thus procured has no disagreeable smell, although taken
direct from the creature's stomach. In every way the elephant is
superior to most animals in the freedom from any unpleasant odour. Its
skin is sweet, and the hand retains no smell whatever, although you may
have caressed the trunk or any other portion of the body. It is well
known that a horse is exceedingly strong in odour, and that nothing is
more objectionable than the close proximity of a stable, or even of a
large number of horses picqueted in the open,--I have frequently been
camped where fifty or sixty elephants were for several days in the same
position within a hundred yards of the tents, and still there was no
offensive scent.

The food of an elephant is always fresh and clean, and the digestive
functions are extremely rapid. The mastication is a rough system of
grinding, and the single stomach and exceedingly short intestines
simplify the process of assimilation. The rapidity of the food passage
necessitates a consumption of a large amount, and no less than six