man, often ventured into
the most dangerous situations. One day, having with his party pursued an
elephant which he had wounded, the irritated animal suddenly turned
round, and singling out from the rest the person by whom he had been
injured, seized him with his trunk, and lifting his wretched victim high
in the air, dashed him with dreadful force to the ground. His
companions, struck with horror, fled precipitately from the fatal scene,
unable to look back upon the rest of the dreadful tragedy; but on the
following day, they repaired to the spot, where they collected the few
bones that could be found, and buried them. The enraged animal had not
only literally trampled Krieger's body to pieces, but did not feel its
vengeance satisfied till it had pounded the very flesh and bones into
the dust, so that nothing of the unfortunate man remained excepting a
few of the latter, which made most resistance from their size."

M. Frederic Cuvier, in his admirable essay on the "Domestication of
Animals," writes as follows, concerning an elephant in the menagerie of
the Jardin des Plantes. The care of this animal had been confided, when
he was only three or four years old, to a young person, who taught him a
number of those tricks which amuse the public. The animal loved him so
much, as not only to be perfectly obedient to all his commands, but to
be unhappy out of his presence. He rejected the kindness of every one
else, and even was with difficulty persuaded to eat the food presented
to him.

During a certain period, the elephant had remained with his owner, and
the young man, his son, had constantly evinced the greatest kindness
towards the animal; but he was at length sold to the government, and his
keeper hired to take care of him; deprived of all restraint, and his
family no longer present to watch over him, the latter neglected his
charge, and when intoxicated, even struck his favourite, for he
abandoned himself to the worst habits. The naturally cheerful
disposition of the elephant began to alter, and he was thought to be
ill; he was still obedient, but his exercises no longer gave him
pleasure. He now and then appeared to be impatient, but tried to repress
his feelings; the struggle, however, changed him so much, that his
keeper became still more dissatisfied with him. Orders had been given to
the young man never to beat the elephant, but in vain. Mortified at
losing his influence, which daily became less, his own irritab