Here is another elephant dressed in elaborate trappings. His saddle cloth is very gorgeously embroidered and fringed, and he has a cloth over his head, which seems to cover up his eyes, but perhaps he can see through the fringe. He even has a bracelet or anklet around one of his fore feet--do you see it? The owner of all this magnificence sits on the elephant’s back in a howdah, a very much ornamented sort of chair. With all its splendour, I am sure we should not find this a comfortable way of travelling, for as the elephant lumbers along, the howdah pitches first in one direction, then in another. We should feel as though we were at sea; and in the hot sun, without the bracing air we get on the water, it might be an unpleasant motion. This elephant comes from Khaipur, a state in the western part of India. It is a very hot part of the country, and we should probably not be able to live there more than four months in the year, as the rest of the time it is intensely hot. Many of the Hindu people of Khaipur own large numbers of oxen, camels, sheep and goats; so they do not settle in one place to live, but go about, stopping wherever they find good pasture-lands. The chief man is called the mir; isn’t that a strange name? He has a very large estate, with big parks, and, I suppose, owns several elephants. [Illustration: _A wealthy Merchant of Khaipur out for an Airing_ _From Stereograph, copyright by Underwood & Underwood, New York_] A BULLOCK CART IN AGRA Here are some more bullocks, drawing quite a different kind of cart from any we have seen before. What fine-looking animals they are, and how patient they seem, in spite of the fact that the rope harness goes right through their nostrils and over their ears, which must be uncomfortable, to say the least. See what a very elaborate canopy the carriage has, in the shape of a dome; but the wheels, somehow, do not seem to belong to the top, for they are made of wood and are very clumsy. We should know at once that this was in India, the land of sharp contrasts. Travellers in India often say that in that country the most magnificent and the meanest objects are found side by side. A beautiful palace and a miserable little hut are seen together, or a wonderful bit of carving beside cheap red or yellow glass ornaments. Carts like the one in the picture are very often seen at Agra, the city where so many wonderful buildings are found. There are many interesting things in India that we should like to see; you know it is a very large country, and there are many different kinds of scenery; and in some places it is very beautiful. The different castes or classes of people each have manners and customs of their own, and the dress of the natives tells at once to what caste they belong; but it would be hard for us to remember all the differences. [Illustration: _A typical Bullock-driver with clumsy wooden-wheeled Car, at Agra, India_