“The fight of these noble animals is attended with much cruelty. It frequently happens that some of the riders are trodden under foot, and killed on the spot; the elephant having always cunning enough to feel the importance of dismounting the rider of his adversary, whom he therefore endeavors to strike down with his trunk. So imminent is the danger considered, that, on the day of combat, the unhappy men take the same formal leave of their wives and children as if condemned to death. They are somewhat consoled by the reflection, that, if their lives should be preserved, and the king be pleased with their conduct, not only will their pay be augmented, but a sack of peyssas (equal to fifty francs) will be presented to them the moment they alight from the elephant. They have also the satisfaction of knowing, that, in the event of their death, the pay will be continued to the widows, and that their sons will be appointed to the same situation. The mischief with which this amusement is attended does not always terminate with the death of the rider: it often happens that some of the spectators are knocked down and trampled upon by the elephants, or by the crowd; for the rush is terrible when, to avoid the infuriated combatants, men and horses, in confusion, take to flight. The second time I witnessed this exhibition, I owed my safety entirely to the goodness of my horse and the exertions of my two servants.” In the middle of the seventeenth century, elephant-fighting was a favorite amusement among the princes of the Mogul empire. Almost every day some exhibition was given, devised to afford a display of the greatest cruelty. A single elephant was matched against six horses, which were killed by being clasped about the neck by the elephant, and suffocated, or impaled by their tusks. On other occasions, the elephant was matched against a tiger. Mr. Crawford witnessed such a performance. The tiger was muzzled, and its claws cut, and was finally killed by successive tosses from the tusks of the infuriated elephant, who hurled the helpless animal a distance of thirty feet. At one of the Mogul entertainments, an English bull-dog was matched against an elephant. The pugnacious animal seized the trunk of the elephant, and clung to it until it was jerked into the air to a great height. But it held on so long, that bull-dogs became great favorites with the Mogul, who had them carried about in palanquins with him, and is said to have fed them himself with silver tongs, made expressly for the purpose. Pliny gives an account of two remarkable dogs, which were presented to Alexander the Great by the King of Albania, one of which vanquished an elephant. Happily, the day for these barbarous contests has gone by, at least in civilized nations. CHAPTER XXI. THE ELEPHANT IN PAGEANTRY.