elephant that belonged to the police at Dhubri on the Brahmaputra. This
animal had a large allowance of rice, therefore about three-quarters of
a pound were placed within each tube of plantain stem. A lady offered
the elephant, when being fed, a very small sweet biscuit, about an inch
and a half in diameter. This was accepted in the trunk, but almost
immediately rejected and thrown upon the ground. The mahout, fearing
that his elephant had behaved rudely in thus refusing a present from a
lady's hand, picked up the biscuit and inserted it in the next parcel of
rice and plantain stem. This was placed within the elephant's mouth. At
the first crunch the animal showed evident signs of disgust, and at once
spat out the whole of the contents. There lay a complete ruin of the
neat package, which had been burst by the power of the great jaws; but
among the scattered rice that had been ejected we perceived the biscuit
which had caused the second instance of bad behaviour. So utterly
disgusted was the elephant with this tiny foreign substance that it
endeavoured to cleanse its mouth from every grain of rice, as though
polluted by the contact, and for several minutes it continued to insert
its trunk and rake out each atom from its tongue and throat.

The adaptation of the trunk to many purposes is very interesting. I had
an elephant who would eat every particle of rice in a round bamboo
basket by sucking it up the trunk and then blowing it into its mouth.
The basket was close-grained and smooth inside, but although brimful at
the commencement of operations, it was emptied by the elephant as though
it had been cleansed with a dry sponge.

A distinct rule for feeding elephants cannot be laid down without
exceptions rendered necessary by peculiarities of localities and the
amount of hard work required from the animal. If the elephant is simply
turned out to grass for a season, it will thrive upon such natural