This largest and most sagacious of animals is also the most docile and obedient, gifted with a good memory, affectionate in return for considerate treatment, but never failing to resent an injury. Perhaps his most apparent characteristic is extreme restlessness; viewed at any time, either his whole body is swaying to and fro, or else one of its members; the large ears flapping, the trunk fidgeting, or the feet being raised alternately from the ground. He is wonderfully observant of all that is going on around, for his eye, though small to outward appearances, is very strong of vision, its disproportionate minuteness being a beautiful adaptation of a means to an end, since, were it larger or less protected, it would be liable to constant injury in the tangled vegetation of the jungle. Many folks are unaware of the somewhat singular fact that twice the circumference of any elephant’s foot, measured on the ground, gives the exact measurement of his height. I once gave practical demonstration of this curious fact to the manager of a menagerie, and his astonishment was certainly great. The total absence of wheeled conveyances in itself told a tale, implying an excursion into a wild and unexplored country devoid of roads, for some specific purpose known only to those in authority, while the importance of the enterprise was to be gathered from the fact of its being led by the Chief Commissioner himself. His intimate knowledge of the people and their language, to say nothing of his many other eminent qualifications, fitted him for the post; and, moreover, whatever he undertook, he was in the habit of performing thoroughly. He was in fact our Commander-in-Chief. There were, besides, two officers belonging to the European detachment and a quartermaster with the natives. I shrewdly suspected that my summons to attend was an afterthought at the last moment, the original intention being to employ only a native “medicine man.” I was confirmed in my suspicion by the fact that everything was ready for a move, even to an armoury of medicines and appliances. When and how this force of men and elephants had assembled there, was best known to themselves; at Prome, few if any suspected it, so adroitly had everything been managed; as for myself, I had not the faintest idea of what was going on, until the scene already described burst upon me. That evening was a very pleasant one; my welcome was cordial, and we chatted during and after dinner, though not even a passing allusion threw any light upon the object or destination of the expedition. This was my first march, and I was therefore deeply interested in all the preliminary details, including several readjustments of weights. As I moved to my allotted quarters, my eyes fell upon a very pretty scene, the first of its kind that had ever come under my notice.