Arangbar fell silent, and Hawksworth leaned back in his _howdah _as it rocked gently along. Elephants made better mounts than he had first suspected. He thought again of the previous morning, and his first reaction when told he would be riding an elephant for the next two days. He had arrived at the Red Fort, to be greeted by Nadir Sharif, who directed him to the royal elephants being readied in the courtyard of the _Diwan-i-Am_. "His Majesty has selected one of his favorites for you. Her name is Kumada." Nadir Sharif had pointed toward a large female elephant, her body dyed black and festooned with golden bells, yak-tail tassels, gold tusk rings. "What does the name mean?" "The infidel Hindus believe the eight points of the earth are each guarded by a heavenly being in the shape of an elephant. Your English fleet is coming to us out of our ocean from the southwest, and Kumada is the name Hindus give to the elephant who guards that point of the Hindu compass. His Majesty believes this elephant will be auspicious for you." "I'm most grateful to His Majesty." Hawksworth surveyed the assembled crowd in astonishment. Around him nobles wearing jeweled turbans and silk trousers were selecting elephants. He had worn sea boots and a leather jerkin. Nadir Sharif signaled toward the mahout perched atop the neck of Kumada, and the man tapped her flapping ear with a short barbed rod and gave her directions in Hindi as he guided her toward Hawksworth. She lumbered forward to where Hawksworth stood, and then her mountainous flesh seemed to roll like a wave as she kneeled, front legs out, back legs bent at the knee, ready to be mounted. Two keepers were there, opening the gate of the gold-trimmed _howdah _and then kneeling, ready to hoist the _feringhi_ aboard. "Have you ever ridden an elephant before, Ambassador?" Nadir Sharif monitored Hawksworth's apprehensive expression with delight. "Never. I've never actually been this close to one before." Hawksworth eyed the elephant warily, mistrusting her seeming docility. Elizabethans circulated fabulous tales about this mountainous beast, that it could pull down great trees with the power of its trunk, that it had two hearts--one it used when calm, the other when incensed--and that in Ethiopia there were dragons who killed elephants merely to drink their blood, said to be ice cold at all times. "You will find an elephant has more wit than most men. His Majesty keeps a thousand in his stables here in the Red Fort. The Great Akman used to trap them in the wild, using a female in heat, but then he learned to induce tame ones to couple. Your elephant, I believe, is second-ranked. She's a fine-tempered animal." Kumada examined Hawksworth with her sad, dark eyes, and waved her fanlike ears skeptically. "I'm not entirely sure she's taken to me." "Here, Ambassador." Nadir Sharif slipped a paper-wrapped stick of sugarcane into Hawksworth's hand and nodded his head toward the elephant.