hurry, exclaiming to
his comrade, "May I be shot, Bill, if one of them beggars ha'n't bit me
right through the barrel of my musket." This _par parenthese_, and now
to proceed. As I said before, the elephant showed, by constant
flagellation of his person, that he was much annoyed by his persecutors,
and just at that time, the keeper brought a little naked black thing, as
round as a ball, which in India I believe they call a child, laid it
down before the animal with two words in Hindostanee--"_Watch it_!" and
then walked away into the town. The elephant immediately broke off the
larger part of the bough, so as to make a smaller and more convenient
whisk, and directed his whole attention to the child, gently fanning the
little lump of Indian ink, and driving away every mosquito which came
near it; this he continued for upwards of two hours regardless of
himself, until the keeper returned. It was really a beautiful sight,
and causing much reflection. Here was a monster, whose bulk exceeded
that of the infant by at least two thousand times, acknowledging that
the image of his Maker, even in its lowest degree of perfection, was
divine; silently proving the truth of the sacred announcement, that God
had "given to man dominion over the beasts of the field." And here,
too, was a brute animal setting an example of devotion and self-denial,
which but few Christians, none indeed but a mother, could have
practised. Would Fowell Buxton, surrounded by a host of mosquitoes,
have done as much for a fellow-creature, white or black? not he; he
would have flapped his own thighs, his own ears, his own face, and his
own every thing, and have left his neighbours to take care of
themselves; nor would I blame him.

As I am on the subject, I may as well inform my readers how and in which
way this elephant and I parted company, for it was equally
characteristic of the animal. The army was ordered to march, and the
elephants were called into requisition to carry the tents. The
quarter-master general, the man with four eyes, as the natives called
him, because he wore spectacles, superintended the loading of the
animals--tent upon tent was heaped upon my friend, who said nothing,
till at last he found that they were overdoing the thing, and then he
roared out his complaints, which the keeper explained; but there was
still one more tent to be carried, and, therefore, as one more or less
could make no difference, it was ordered to be put up