So the Mamma elephant stretches out her trunk before her, just like an arm, and tells her child to lie across it. In that way she holds up the child in the water, so that the little elephant has only to think of curling up the tip of its own little trunk out of the water to breathe. Then she tells her child to kick out with its legs, so as to move forward through the water. But sometimes, in kicking out, the little elephant forgets to hold up the tip of its trunk out of the water at the same time; then down goes its trunk into the water, and it cannot breathe! Then what happens? The Mamma elephant can do nothing, as she is already using her own trunk to hold up her child. So, what is to be done? Really, the elephants are so wise that they take no chances of that happening. The Papa elephant takes care of that. When he sees that the Mamma is teaching the little elephant how to swim, he always comes near them. He may be swimming about, as if he were enjoying himself; but he is really watching them all the time. And if the little elephant forgets to hold up its trunk out of the water, the Papa comes quickly, and with one upward stroke of his own trunk he lifts up the little elephant's trunk clear out of the water. Is not that very wise and thoughtful of the Papa elephant? In that way the little elephant soon learns to do _both_ things--that is, to kick out with its legs so as to move along, and also to hold up its trunk to breathe. And then, of course, it can swim properly. And yet the elephants are so very wise that they never take the risk of tiring out a little elephant, if they have to swim a very long way. Sometimes a whole herd of elephants has to swim across a very wide river. Then the Mamma elephant tells her child to swim in front of her, while she encourages the child from behind with many fond words. But sometimes after swimming halfway across the river-- "Mamma, I am getting tired!" cries the little one. "Then come on my back, darling!" says the Mamma. She dives, and comes up right under the little elephant; so now her child sits on her back. In that way she swims along, and carries her child across the wide river, as you see in the picture. [Illustration: An Elephant Mamma Carrying her Child across the River] CHAPTER IV. Elephants: The Tricks of the Jungle Now I shall tell you how a little elephant learns all the tricks of the jungle from its Mamma and Papa. By the tricks of the jungle I mean all the things that an animal has to learn in order to get enough to eat every day, what to do when food is scarce, how to be comfortable and happy, and also how to escape from every danger; in fact, these things are very much like what men have to learn, only in a different way. But the animal folks are better off in one way: what they have to learn is not like a lesson in school, but just play. In fact they learn everything by just playing it as a game! I shall tell you how.