The elephants of Germanicus were trained to perform many remarkable feats, as hurling javelins into the air with their trunks, and catching them. Pliny says that these elephants danced upon a rope, and their steps were so practised and certain, that four of them walked upon the rope, bearing a litter, which contained one of their companions who feigned to be sick. This would seem an exaggeration, but an elephant upon the tight-rope has been seen in this country; and ancient writers agree with Pliny that the elephants exhibited at ancient Rome could not only walk upon the rope, but retreat backwards without falling off. This performance, wonderful as it appears, is credited by nearly all the old writers. Seneca describes an elephant, who, at the command of its keeper, would bow its head, kneel, and walk upon a rope. Of course, it is impossible for an elephant to walk upon a slack rope; and those alluded to were probably of very large size, perhaps flat upon the sides, and stretched to the greatest tension, and placed near the ground. It is evident, however, that, in some cases, the rope was high above the spectators; as one writer mentions an elephant exhibited in the presence of the Emperor Galba, which ascended to the roof of the circus, on a rope stretched in an incline, and came back in safety, bearing a man upon its back. This performance is extremely wonderful when we remember the natural timidity of the animal, and the almost impossibility of forcing it upon a structure that is in the least unstable or frail. When elephants are marched over a bridge, they exercise the greatest caution, often trying the boards before taking the step, and displaying much sagacity. We have seen the elephant of to-day fire a gun, play upon the hand-organ, or ring a bell: and Arrian mentions seeing an elephant who played upon the cymbals, having one attached to each knee, and bearing the third in its proboscis; thus beating a measure with great exactness, while other elephants danced about him. Busbec, ambassador from Germany to Constantinople in 1555, saw an elephant which he describes as an extremely graceful dancer and ball-player, throwing the ball, and catching it, as easily as could a man with his hands. It is a common thing for parrots to be taught to scream out the name of prominent people, and elephants have been trained to perform a somewhat similar trick. Thus, an elephant saluted Domitian when he passed; and when the elephant presented by Emmanuel of Portugal saw Leo X., to whom he was sent as a gift, it fell upon its knees, and made a profound obeisance.