He cannot do anything to _plaster_ his back; but I shall tell you what he does do. He just draws into his trunk a lot of dust from the ground; then he curls up the trunk over his back, and blows the dust over the gaps in the thatch on his back. Of course he has to do that many times to fill up all the gaps; but at last, when he does not _feel_ the sun any more, he knows that his back is quite covered. Is not that a very wonderful thing for the elephants to think out, all by themselves? And that is what Salar's Mamma taught him to do. But, a few years later, he came to the age when boys among men usually have to go to school. Then Salar passed to the care of his Papa. In feeding through the jungle, when all the elephants march and eat from tree to tree, Salar walked with his Papa, and began to learn lessons from him. And his Papa's way of teaching him was quite different from that of his Mamma, and often very funny! _How Elephants Walk under Water_ The first thing he taught was at the stream at midnight. By this time Salar could swim quite well; so he was enjoying himself with the grown-ups. But his Papa kept watching him with the corner of his eye. Little by little he drew nearer and nearer to Salar, and waited till the youngster came to a part where the water was not at all deep. Then suddenly his Papa gave Salar a butt with his head. Down went Salar under the water, snorting and spluttering and hollering. "Hold up your trunk, you simp!" cried his Papa. But Salar was too frightened to remember to hold up his trunk; so his Papa caught Salar's trunk in his own and hoisted it clear out of the water. Then what was Salar's joy and surprise to find that he could breathe quite well, though his feet were actually touching the bottom of the stream. Of course he kicked out, and tried to get up to the top of the water again. But-- "Stay there!" cried his Papa, giving him another butt, though still holding the youngster's trunk carefully out of the water. Then Salar lost all fear of the water; he was not a bit afraid of being ducked, so long as the tip of his trunk was out of the water. So he learned to do a wonderful thing--he learned to remain completely under the water, so that his feet were actually resting on the bottom of the stream, with only the tip of his trunk out of the water. No other animal can do that. And the most astonishing thing about it is that the elephants have taught themselves to do that trick; so that _a whole herd of elephants can walk into a stream in time of danger, and disappear from sight_, the smaller ones standing in the shallow parts, and the full-grown ones standing in the deeper parts.