Part 3

“Thank you grandpapa,” said the gratified Harry, “I shall certainly never forget how the elephant is snared, but I think I am not ambitious to be an elephant hunter.” “You would not then like to be an Abyssinian elephant hunter?” “Why, grandpapa?” “Because of the great danger and skill required.” “Did you ever see them, grandpapa?” “No, my dear, but an enterprising traveller has given us an account of the mode in very lively colouring.” “Perhaps you can remember it so as to tell us, dear grandpapa?” “I will try, my boy.—Mr. Bruce tells us that the persons employed in this dangerous service live constantly in the woods, subsisting upon the flesh of the animals they kill. They are exceedingly thin, light, and agile, both on foot and on horse-back. They are called Agageers, a name derived from the one descriptive of their mode of destroying the great animals, such as the elephant and rhinoceros; _Agar_ signifying to hough or hamstring with a sharp weapon, or, more properly, cutting the tendon of the heel. To effect this, two men quite naked, to prevent their being caught by the trees and bushes, in making their escape from their watchful enemy, get on horse-back. One of them sits on the back of the horse, sometimes with a saddle, sometimes without one: with only a short stick in one hand, carefully managing the bridle with the other: behind him sits his companion, armed only with a broadsword——but hold, I recollect I have a drawing of the group. Harry boy, ring the bell, Alan shall bring my port-feuille.” “Ah, that will be delightful Harry,” exclaimed Joanna, who had a fine taste for drawing and delighted to look at them. Alan appeared, received his directions where to find the port-feuille, and in a few minutes it was opened before the delighted children; indeed its contents were well calculated to gratify the most refined taste, and to excite the admiration of the practised delineator of nature’s beauties and wonders.

The descriptive drawing of the Agageers and elephant was soon found. “Here, Harry,” said Mr. Elmer, as pleased as his juvenile companions, “here they are. The left hand of his Agageer is employed you see, in grasping the sword by the handle; about a foot or fourteen inches of the blade of which is covered with whipcord. This part he takes in his right hand without any danger of being hurt by it, and though the edges of the lower part of the sword are as sharp as a razor, he carries it without a scabbard.

“As soon as an elephant is found feeding as here delineated, the horseman rides before him as near his face as possible, or if he tries to escape, crosses him in all directions, calling out, I am such a one, and such a one, this is my horse, that has such a name, I killed your father in such a place, and your grandfather in such another place, and I am now come to kill you, who are nothing in comparison with them. This nonsense he thinks the elephant perfectly understands; who irritated at hearing the noise so immediately before him, attempts to seize him by his trunk.” “Oh, grandpapa, how frightful!” exclaimed Joanna involuntarily. Mr. Elmer smiled, kissed her forehead, and proceeded: “the elephant intent upon this, follows the horse every where, turning round and round with him, neglecting to make his escape by going straight forward, in which consists his only safety. After having made him thus turn several times in pursuit of the horse, the horseman rides up close beside of him, and drops his companion just behind on the off side; and while he engages the elephant’s attention upon the horse, the other behind him gives him a drawn stroke just above the heel, into what in man is called the tendon of Achilles. This is the critical moment—don’t your heart beat, Harry?” “That it does, grandpapa, pit a pat, pit a pat.” “Well, the horseman instantly wheels round, again takes his companion up behind him, and rides off full speed after the rest of the herd, if they have started more than one; and sometimes an expert Agageer will kill three out of one herd. If the sword is good and the man not too timid, the tendon is generally separated entirely, and if not quite cut through, is so far divided that the animal from the stress his weight puts upon it, breaks the remaining part asunder.” “Ah! poor thing, how much it must suffer,” said Joanna. “It must, indeed, my dear, for in either case he remains quite incapable of advancing a step, till the horseman returning, or his companions coming up, he is pierced through with javelins and lances, by which he falls to the ground, and expires from loss of blood. Here is another drawing descriptive of this closing scene. The elephant being thus slain, they cut his flesh into slips or thongs, and hang them upon the branches of the trees till they become dry, without salt, and then lay them by for their provision in the rainy season.” “Dear me, grandpapa, what bad food they must be. I am sure I must be very hungry indeed to relish such a strange dish.” “Yes, my boy, hunger is admirable sauce. I don’t know but it would make you even relish very highly the pretty dirty list bridle you so cleverly put on Joanna this morning.” “Oh, grandpapa! no, I never could eat that to be sure, it was so rough it would choke me.” “Well, well, I hope you will never be reduced to such necessity; what say you, my pet?” (to Ellen.) “No, grandpa, I like little chicken, not dried elephant for my dinner.” “That is very lucky, my dear, because we could not conveniently have the one, and my poultry-yard is very well filled. Yet, my dear, we are informed by a lively traveller, that the feet of the elephant roasted are a delicious morsel, as well as the shins; and I can readily imagine it, from the pure nature of their food, and the extreme cleanliness of their habits.”

“Have you any more drawings of the elephant, grandpapa?” inquired Joanna. “I dare say there are among these, my dear; we will look through them.” “O yes, here is one,” resumed the eager and delighted girl. “Do not touch, Ellen; you know mamma always tells you, little girls should not touch any thing that is shown them, especially such beautiful drawings.” Ellen withdrew her finger at this remonstrance of her sister, and quietly looked on. “I remember the occasion upon which this drawing was taken,” said Mr. Elmer. “Elephants are kept in many parts of India more for show and grandeur than use, although I shall relate to you many instances in which I have seen them eminently useful. Their keeping is attended with very great expense, as they devour a vast quantity of the best provisions, and are sometimes regaled with a plentiful repast of cinnamon, of which they are exceedingly fond. When the King of Pegu walks abroad, he is preceded by four stately white elephants, adorned with sumptuous trappings, covered with precious stones, and ornaments of gold; and when he gives audience, these four elephants are presented to him, who do him reverence by raising their trunks, and uttering three distinct cries, while kneeling before him. This ceremony ended, they are conducted back to their apartment, where each is fed from large golden vessels. They are also washed twice a day with water taken from a silver reservoir. During the time of their being thus refreshed and adorned, they are under a canopy supported by eight slaves, in order to defend them from the heat of the sun. In being led to the vessels containing their food and water, they are preceded by trumpets, and march with great majesty, as if feeling the elevation conferred upon them by this pomp. The king of Siam has also 1000 elephants attached to his army.

“This drawing, my children, represents the great mogul, upon an occasion of his appearing in public, when I had an opportunity of seeing him. No pomp, magnificence, or luxury can exceed, or indeed be comparable to the ostentatious brilliancy of this potentate on such occasions. He sits, as you may perceive by this sketch, upon a throne of gold, glittering with precious stones: the throne and monarch borne on the back of a noble elephant, who seems conscious of his burden. The elevation gives the emperor an air of grandeur, which is extremely impressive to the beholders, above whom he is so highly exalted in situation as well as rank; nor can we fail to regard with an eye of indulgence that despotic pride which is both excited and fostered by the adulation paid to a mortal. It requires something more than mortal strength, to resist the fascinations of power and the flatteries of the self-interested, who live in the sunny beams of royal favour. As the elephant moves slowly and majestically on, the people fall prostrate before their great and mighty prince. It is thus by dazzling the eyes of his slaves, and inspiring them with awe, he supports his despotic authority: his mighty will is the law. The shield of this splendid despot is thickly studded with diamonds and rubies; on his head he has a gorgeous turban, ornamented in the same manner, and round his neck a rich chain of pearls of the most exquisite beauty. He also you see bears a sword and a beautiful quiver of arrows, bearing also a staff in his hand richly adorned with drilled or pierced diamonds, while chains of diamonds and rubies adorn different parts of his dress. Rich bracelets encompass his arms, just above the wrist and elbow; and his fingers are covered with costly rings. When he marches at the head of his troops, he is attended by at least a hundred elephants, richly caparisoned, and ten or twelve thousand men. In the centre, either on an elephant or a fine Persian horse, rides the emperor, although he is said to be at the head of his troops; and when he travels privately into the country, he is conveyed in a covered sort of chariot drawn by oxen. When this eastern potentate holds in person a divan, or public court for the administration of justice, he is seated, as you see in this drawing, on the musnud, viz. a kind of stage elevated about two feet above the floor, and covered with a superb cloth, richly embroidered with jewels and fringed with gold. In the centre of the musnud, you see he is placed upon a sort of tray, being formed of either gold or silver gilded. He styles himself the conqueror of the world. His officers surround him, his courtiers adulate him, and the unfortunate are admitted to petition him.” “Who is that person, grandpapa, with his head nearly touching the floor, and without his shoes?” “That is a petitioner, my dear; he is obliged to leave his slippers outside the entrance, and to advance barefooted in token of humility. The salute he is making is called _salam_: it is expressive of his profound veneration. His forehead nearly touching the ground, he bows himself thus three times before the musnud, and then presents his petition with a purse of gold,—the one being very useless at an eastern court without the other. On giving them, he says, with great humility, ‘Read this my petition, the day will come when all petitions shall be read.’ If the emperor does not choose to receive the petition, he frowns and turns away his head; but if favourable, which greatly depends upon the weight of the purse, he smiles and grants a gracious nod of approbation.”

Just as Mr. Elmer concluded this explanation of the drawing, which inimitably displayed the superb costumes of the mogul court, Alan entered with the tea equipage, informing his master, that he would but just have time to take tea before the phaeton would be ready, according to his order, that the children might reach home before it was too late to hazard their taking cold. An universal exclamation of “surely it cannot be so late, Alan,” came from the party who had been so amused, that time had passed unheeded. Even Little Ellen, who would have found it impossible to have remained so long still any where but on grandpapa’s knee, could not help saying, she was very sorry it was so late that they must go home.

“Well, my dears, as my sketch-book has proved so amusing, you must come and look at it another day, and hear some more anecdotes about the elephants, and perhaps go to the menagerie again, if it remains at C——. Now, Harry, let us see if those cakes Mary has made for us, are as good as the strips of elephant’s flesh.” “This I know, grandpapa,” replied Harry, “that I will willingly give up to the Agageers the dried flesh, while Mary is so good as to furnish us with such famous cakes: won’t you take some, young ladies,” he added, with arch ceremony. Nothing loath, the young ladies accepted his proffer, and full of innocent glee they concluded their refreshment; having kissed their dear grandpapa over and over again, they jumped into the phaeton, and were driven off by Alan, eagerly anticipating the pleasure of telling their papa and mamma all they had seen, and the kind invitation of their grandpapa,—which none of them failed to remember.

Their conversation naturally turned upon what they had heard respecting the elephant, and they seemed disposed to regard every thing they saw in reference to it; for instance, they were accompanied by a favorite water spaniel of their grandfather’s, who in passing a stream seemed highly to enjoy the swim across, instead of passing the bridge. “Look at Selim,” said Harry; “now if he was an elephant, he must go over the bridge, for he could not jump over the stream, and certainly he could not swim.” “Swim, no, I should think not, indeed, Harry,” said Joanna, laughing; “an elephant swim, no, no, with all its cleverness and sagacity, it could not do that to be sure.” “But you are mistaken, my dear,” said Alan, “for they swim over large rivers with great ease. The form and weight of the elephant do not indeed seem much adapted to swimming, yet his trunk enables him to do so. It is true, that when out of his depth in the water (as Selim now is) his body and head are entirely sunk under it; yet he is not in danger of being drowned as other land animals, as he carries his trunk raised above the surface, in order to breathe, and steers his course also by it. Even when several elephants have been crossing a river at the same time, they have all found their way very well, and what is remarkable have never been known to interfere with each other, although their heads, and of course eyes, have all the time been under water.”

“Well, you do surprise us, Alan,” said the children, “so you have seen elephants swim?” “Yes, often, my dears; you remember your grandpapa told you they formed great herds, or families, in the woods. Now I can assure you, that when these families remove from place to place, which they must do for food, the largest elephants put themselves at the head, and if they arrive at a river, are the first to pass over it. On reaching the opposite bank, they try if the landing-place is safe; if it is, they give a signal with their trunk, on which another division of the old elephants pass over, the younger then follow, holding one another by locking their trunks together, then the rest of the old ones bring up the rear.” “Well, I am glad Selim chose to swim over the stream, or we should not have heard these anecdotes of the elephants from you, Alan, and I dare say might have still thought it was impossible for them to swim.”

“O, there is papa and mamma on the lawn,” said Ellen, “we shall soon be at home; what a happy day we have had!”

As they approached the gate, such was the cry—“O what a happy day we have had! and we are to go again, grandpapa says; and he bid us tell you, mamma, we have not been troublesome, but have made him very happy. And he says, you must go, mamma,” added Ellen, “and Charles, when he is a little older. He says I behave very well now.” “I am glad he has returned you with a good character, my little pet,” said Mr. Monson, as he took Ellen in his arms. “Oh papa,” she said, “the elephant is as big as the hay-stack, but so good-natured, Alan says, it rocked a little baby to sleep in a cradle.” “Then, you would have no objection to ride upon one, I suppose.” “Why yes, papa, I don’t think I should like it.” “But I should,” observed Harry. “Papa, let me go to India, when I am a little bigger; I shall then travel on elephants, and eat mangoes, and see the grand mogul all over jewels and gold, with the people bowing their heads to the ground, while he looks so proud and stately.” “What, I suppose, you would like to see his majesty weighed, Harry?” “Weighed, papa! I don’t know what you mean.” “I mean the grand festival, given on the birth-day of the great mogul, when he is very sumptuously dressed, and goes to a magnificent pavilion, attended by his nobles. In it are suspended golden scales, adorned with jewels. Into one of these scales, the emperor places himself, in order to balance the other, which is filled with rubies, emeralds, pearls, gold, silver, fine stuffs, cinnamon, cloves, and other sweet spices; and an exact account is given of the difference of his weight from the last year: if he weighs more, the people shout and rejoice; if less, they manifest every token of concern. The ceremony is concluded with the distribution, from the hands of the mogul, of golden almonds, and other artificial fruits, formed of the same precious metal; and to the poor he distributes small pieces of money.” “That must be a very pretty sight indeed,” observed Joanna, “I should like to see such a grand prince throwing money to the poor. How happy the rich must be!” “Say rather, my child, _might be_,” said Mr. Monson, “did the will always accompany the power; but as this is not always, nor indeed very often the case, to be content is our wisest as well as our most virtuous course. We have the gracious assurance that a willing mind is accepted by Him who bestows upon us every good, and that a cup of cold water given in his name to those that need it, is an act well-pleasing to Him, and verily will have its reward. But the evening closes, and my Ellen gets sleepy; let us go in, and thank God for the blessings of the day, ere we seek that repose which is to refresh us for the duties of the morrow, should the Almighty suffer us to see it. An habitual remembrance, that we depend upon him for life and breath, and all things, will give additional value to each of these blessings, and preserve our minds easy and serene. You cannot, my children, be too early taught that this is the secret of happiness, the only source of true enjoyment. The prayers of the innocent are acceptable to Him, and their hearts the sweetest sacrifice that can be offered to his Majesty. Come, then, my children, we will kneel before Him, and commit ourselves to his Almighty protection.”

Mr. Monson was the most cheerful of men, and he had found that to preserve it unclouded in his own breast, as well as have its light pervade his family, was to cherish a simple unaffected piety, and a constant sense of the omnipresence of God. “He is about my path and about my bed, and spiest out all my ways,” was his frequent and emphatic caution to his children and dependents, and his encouragement when they had done any thing pleasing to him; thus referring their reward to Him who seeth in secret. It was his regular custom to assemble his family morning and evening, convinced not only that it was a homage due to the Creator and Preserver, but also that such practice was the only thing that could preserve that beautiful union of ranks forming a family, each reciprocally depending upon each in their several peculiar departments, making together the sweet harmony of domestic charities.

Declaring they should dream of the elephant and the great mogul, the children kissed their parents, and cheerfully retired, not a little fatigued with the unexpected pleasures of the day.

CHAP. VI.

The chiefest action for a human being Is never to be out of action. We should think The soul was never put into the body, Which has so many rare and curious pieces Of mathematical motion, to stand still.

The frolic of the preceding day had not rendered the children inattentive to their lessons, when they arose from their peaceful repose, but on the contrary the new ideas they had acquired, served but to animate them to greater acquisitions; and Mr. and Mrs. Monson had just reason to be pleased with their diligent attention to their several pursuits. Joanna, who was receiving instruction in drawing from her mamma, felt more than usual emulation when she recollected the beautiful sketches of her grandpapa, and wondered if she should ever be able to draw like him. “Doubtless you will, my love, if you apply, and practise as I wish you, fully accomplishing one study before you proceed to another: it is by attempting too much at a time, that so many young people never obtain a facility in doing any thing properly. Nothing can be effected without industry, patience, and perseverance; and there are few things, within the compass of human knowledge, but may be effected with these assistants. Having been accustomed to use your pencil nearly ever since you could hold one, I have great hopes that you will obtain that freedom and facility in its use, without which no one can make an accurate and pleasing drawing. You have sketched these sheep very well; I suppose I shall have you trying an elephant soon?” “No, mamma, it is not pretty enough to induce me to sketch it; but I do like to hear my grandpapa describe its sagacity and gentleness. I wonder when we shall go to C—— again?” “That seems very uncertain, from the gloomy state of the day, my dear; but if you are not able to repeat your visit to the elephant, you have seen enough to give an interest to all you may see or hear respecting such a wonderful animal; and you know I have always told you, that cultivating your talents and expanding your mind, by improving reading and conversation, not only opens to you many sources of pleasure unknown to the ignorant and the idle, but also gives additional gratification in viewing any object of taste and curiosity, and not only this, it prevents the feeling of disappointment becoming painful when any circumstance prevents the fulfilment of engagements like that the kindness of your grandpapa made with you: for not depending upon one species of pleasure alone, a cultivated mind is never at a loss for employment and subjects of interest.”