of their learned men also*" At the palace of Jyepoor, says the same humane person, we were shewn five or six elephants in training for a fight. Each was separately kept in a small paved court, with a little litter, but very dirty. They were all what is called must,' that is, fed on stimulating substances to make them furious; and all shewed in their eyes, their gaping mouths, and the constant motion of their trunks, signs of fever and restlessness. Their mohouts seemed to approach them with great caution; and on hearing a step they turned round as far as their chains would allow, and lashed fiercely with their trunks. I was moved and disgusted at the sight of so noble creatures, thus maddened and diseased by the absurd cruelty of man, in order that they might for his diversion inflict fresh pain and injuries on each othert." In the combats of elephants, according to Mr. Crawfurd, "after a rencontre, which does not last above a few seconds, one of the parties is sure to run away." At Ava, the elephants, bearing riders, are fought across a stout paling. They are brought up to the charge with much spirit, but often refuse to engage. They have but one mode of fighting-they butt with the forehead, and endeavour to wound each other with their tuskst. Father Tachard, a French jesuit, who visited Siam in 1685, saw elephants fight before the king of that country. The two animals were very furious; but they were so strongly bound to a stake by the hind legs, and the distance between them was so accurately measured, that they could not severely wound each other, but only twisted their tusks together in great wrath. The victor, on these Journal, vol. iii. p. 11. + Journal, vol, ii. p. 405. Embassy to Ava, p. 306.. occasions, was the animal that first broke his opponent's tusk*. Elephant fights have always been favourite diversions of the princes of India. The emperor Akbar built an amphitheatre for these combats, at Agraf. Robert Covert, an Englishman who travelled in Hindostan in 1609, in his description of Agra, "tells of elephants fighting before the Mogul, parted with rockets of wild-fire, made round like hoops, which they run in their faces." This statement would shew that the animals, when infuriated, are not easily parted. On the contrary, Baldæus, a Dutch minister who lived many years in India, relates that "the elephants made to fight with one another, before the Great Mogul, manage the combat with a far greater agility and courage than one would imagine, obediently falling to and desisting according to the word given, and embracing one another lovingly with their trunks, as soon as they are commanded to end the combat §." Pliny says, that thirty elephants on a side, which king Bocchus brought to combat each other, refused to fight||; and this passage offers a confirmation of Mr. Crawfurd's assertion, that they are not pugnacious. Bernier, however, who was a very careful observer, corroborates the statement of Robert Covert; and this picture of an elephant fight, by an eye-witness of undisputed veracity, would shew that the elephants of Ava, which Mr. Crawfurd saw, have not the courage of the species in other parts of Asia. The passage in Bernier is very curious: "The festivals generally conclude with an amusement unknown in Europe, a combat between two * Hist. Gen. des Voyages, vol. ix. p. 151. + Ayeen Akbery. Phil. Trans. 1671, Purchas, vol. i. elephants; which takes place in the presence of all the people, on the sandy space near the river; the king, the principal ladies of the court, and the omrahs, viewing the spectacle from different apartments in the fortress. "A wall of earth is raised three or four French feet wide, and five or six high. The two ponderous beasts meet one another face to face, on opposite sides of the wall, each having a couple of riders, that the place of the man who sits on the shoulders, for the purpose of guiding the elephant with a large iron hook, may immediately be supplied if he should be thrown down. The riders animate the elephants either by soothing words, or by chiding them as cowards, and urge them on with their heels, until the poor creatures approach the wall and are brought to the attack. The shock is tremendous, and it appears surprising that they ever survive the dreadful wounds and blows inflicted with their teeth, their heads, and their trunks. There are frequent pauses during the fight; it is suspended and renewed; and the mud wall being at length thrown down, the stronger or more courageous elephant passes on and attacks his opponent, and putting him to flight, pursues and fastens upon him with so much obstinacy, that the animals can be separated only by means of cherkys, or fire-works, which are made to explode between them; for they are naturally timid, and have a particular dread of fire, which is the reason why elephants have been used with so very little advantage in armies, since the use of fire-arms. The boldest come from Ceylon, but none are employed in war which have not been regularly trained, and accustomed for years to the discharge of muskets close to their heads, and the bursting of crackers between their legs. "The fight of these noble creatures is attended with much cruelty. It frequently happens that some of the riders are trodden under foot, and killed on the spot, the elephant having always cunning enough to feel the importance of dismounting the rider of his adversary, whom he therefore endeavours to strike down with his trunk. So imminent is the danger considered, that on the day of combat the unhappy men take the same formal leave of their wives and children, as if condemned to death. They are somewhat consoled by the reflection that if their lives should be preserved, and the king be pleased with their conduct, not only will their pay be augmented, but a sack of peyssas (equal to fifty francs) will be presented to them the moment they alight from the elephant. They have also the satisfaction of knowing that, in the event of their death, the pay will be continued to the widows, and that their sons will be appointed to the same situation. The mischief with which this amusement is attended does not always terminate with the death of the rider: it often happens that some of the spectators are knocked down, and trampled upon by the elephants, or by the crowd; for the rush is terrible when, to avoid the infuriated combatants, men and horses in confusion take to flight. The second time I witnessed this exhibition, I owed my safety entirely to the goodness of my horse, and the exertions of my two servants *." The barbarous sports of the amphitheatre appear to have furnished the chief amusements of the luxurious princes of the Mogul empire. About the middle of the seventeenth century, "the daily diversions of the Mogul, except on Fridays, were to VOL. II. *Travels, vol. i. p. 314. ន |