The king of beasts is generally acknowledged to be the lion; but no one who has seen a wild elephant can doubt for a moment that the title belongs to him in his own right. Lord of all created animals in might and sagacity, the elephant roams through his native forests. He browses upon the lofty branches, upturns young trees from sheer malice, and from plain to forest he stalks majestically at break of day, `monarch of all he surveys'.A person who has never seen a wild elephant can form no idea of his real character, either mentally or physically. The unwieldy and sleep-looking beast who, penned up in his cage at a menagerie, receives a sixpence in his trunk, and turns round with difficulty to deposit it in a box; whose mental powers seem to be concentrated in the idea of receiving buns tossed into a gaping mouth by children's hands, this very beat may have come from a warlike stock. His sire may have been the terror of a district, a pitiless highway man, whose soul thirsted for blood; who, lying in wait in some thick bush, would rush upon the unwary passer-by, and know no pleasure greater than the act of crushing his victim to a shapeless mass beneath his feet. How little does his tame sleepy son resemble him! Instead of browsing on the rank vegetation of wild pasturage, he devours plum-buns; instead of bathing his giant form in the deep rivers and lakes of his native land, he steps into a stone-lined basin to bathe before the eyes of a pleased multitude. I have even heard people exclaim upon hearing anecdotes of elephant-hunting, `Poor things!'Poor things, indeed! I should like to see the very person who thus expresses his pity, going at his best pace, with a savage elephant after him, give him a lawn to run upon if he likes, and see the elephant gaining a foot in every yard of the chase, fire in his eye, fury in his headlong charge; and would not the flying gentleman who lately exclaimed `Poor thing!' be thankful to the lucky bullet that would save him from destruction?There are no animals more misunderstood than elephants; they are naturally savage, wary, and revengeful; displaying as great courage when in their wild state as any animals known. The fact of their great natural sagacity renders them the more dangerous as foes.In their domesticated state I have seen them perform wonders of sagacity and strength; but I have nothing to do with tame elephants; there are whole books written upon the subject, although the habits of an elephant can be described in a few words.All wild animals in a tropical country avoid the sun. They wander forth to feed upon the plains in the evening and during the night, and they return to the jungle shortly after sunrise.Elephants have the same habits. In those parts of the country where such pasturage abounds as bamboo, lemon grass, sedges on the banks of rivers, lakes, and swamps, elephants are sure to be found at such seasons as are most propitious for the growth of these plants. When the dry weather destroys this supply of food in one district, they migrate to another part of the country.They come forth to feed about 4 p.m. and they invariably retire to the thickest and most thorny jungle in the neighbourhood of their feeding place by 7 a.m. In these impenetrable haunts they consider themselves secure from aggression.Excerpted from `The Great Indian Elephant Book', edited by Dhriti K. Lahiri-Choudhury, OUP, Rs. 595
