I must tell you the story of some elephants that were with a body of troops in the mountain region of India. In their march they came to a steep place where the men laid a stairway of logs for the elephants to climb up. The first elephant came to it, took a good look, shook his head, and backed off. When the driver tried to force him to climb he would not move, but roared like a scared boy. Only when some change was made in the stairs could he be got to set foot on them, and he climbed up with great care, trying every step as he went.
Reproduced by Permission of the Philadelphia Museums
When he was part way up he came to a tree which he tried with his trunk and did not like. It seemed too weak. Again he stopped. The driver tried to get him to go on with such words as "My life," "Well done, my dear," "My son," and other kind words of which elephants are very fond, but he would not be got to move. Then force was tried. The elephant roared terribly but would not stir.
At length some other change was made in the logs. This the wise creature tried and then went on until he reached the top. When he got there he showed the greatest delight, caressing the keeper with his trunk and throwing dirt about in the most playful manner.
The elephant that followed was a much younger one. It had watched its comrade go up with great interest, making movements with its head and trunk as if it was helping him. When he reached the top it gave a salute like the sound of a trumpet. But when it was called on to take its turn it was greatly scared and had to be forced to mount the slope. When it got near the top the older animal reached down his trunk and twined it around that of the younger and thus helped him to the summit.
Then the two animals greeted each other in the most friendly manner, as if they were old friends just met. They embraced each other with their trunks and stood for many minutes face to face as if they were talking over what they had done. All this goes to show that the elephant has a good deal of human nature in his huge carcass, and along with it a good deal of sound sense.
The stories just told show that the great beast we are talking about has a keen idea of danger, often a better one than his drivers, and is more careful than a good many men we have seen. We give them as examples of the wit and wisdom of this sensible animal. If we look for stories of this kind among the other working animals, such as the ox, the buffalo, and the camel, we find little show of powers of thought, but of the elephant as a thinker there are very many interesting anecdotes. Some of these you may like to read.