1: The _Angler in the Lake District_, p. 23.]

Obedience to the orders of his keepers is not, however, to be assumed as
the result of a uniform perception of the object to be attained by
compliance; and we cannot but remember the touching incident which took
place during the slaughter of the elephant at Exeter Change in 1846,
when, after receiving ineffectually upwards of 120 balls in various
parts of his body, he turned his face to his assailants on hearing the
voice of his keeper, and knelt down at the accustomed word of command,
so as to bring his forehead within view of the rifles.[1]

[Footnote 1: A shocking account of the death of this poor animal is
given in HONE'S _Every-Day Book_, March, 1830, p. 337.]

The working elephant is always a delicate animal, and requires
watchfulness and care. As a beast of burden he is unsatisfactory; for
although in point of mere strength there is scarcely any weight which
could be conveniently placed on him that he could not carry, it is
difficult to pack his load without causing abrasions that afterwards
ulcerate. His skin is easily chafed by harness, especially in wet
weather. During either long droughts or too much moisture, his feet
become liable to sores, that render him non-effective for months. Many
attempts have been made to provide him with some protection for the sole
of the foot, but from his extreme weight and peculiar mode of planting
the foot, they have all been unsuccessful. His eyes are also liable to
frequent inflammations, and the skill of the native elephant-doctors,
which has been renowned since the time of AElian, is nowhere more
strikingly displayed than in the successful treatment of such
attacks.[1] In Ceylon, the murrain among cattle is of frequent
occurrence, and carries off great numbers of animals, wild as well as
tame. In such visitations the elephants suffer severely, not only those
at liberty in the forest, but those carefully tended in the government
stables. Out of a stud of about 40 attached to the department of the
Commission of Roads, the deaths between 1841 and 1849 were on an average
_four_ in each year, and this was nearly doubled in those years when
murrain prevailed.

[Footnote 1: AELIAN, lib. xiii. c. 7.]

Of 240 elephants, employed in the public departments of the Ceylon
Government, which died in twenty-five years, from 1831 to 1856, the
length of time that each lived in captivity has only been recorded in
the instances of 138. Of t