I have known of lots of hunters, who were chasing a herd of elephants and who saw the elephants run ahead toward a river, to find to their surprise, on reaching the river, that the whole herd had disappeared as if by magic. They saw nothing, and did not dream that the little things floating here and there, no bigger than your fist, could mean anything. But of course they were the tips of the trunks of the elephants hidden under the water. To have thought out even that one trick for themselves proves that the elephants are the wisest of all animals, next after men folks. And they have thought out many more tricks, as I shall tell you very soon. But now I shall tell you the next trick that Salar's father taught him. An elephant often has to break down trees in the jungle to clear a way for himself; or sometimes he has to do that to make an open space where he can lie down comfortably. So this is the way Salar's father taught him to break down trees. _How Elephants Break Down or Pull Out Trees_ First he chose a small tree, not much thicker than your wrist; this he pulled out easily with his trunk, just as you might use your hand to pull out a small shrub. Then he chose a tree about six inches thick. He tried it first carefully with his trunk; but the tree was too strong to pull out in that way. So the old elephant put his foot on the side of the tree, and pressed with all his weight--as you see in the picture. The tree bent more and more, and then suddenly broke off near the ground with a loud crack. "I can do that!" cried Salar, frisking around his father, impatient to show what _he_ could do. Salar looked around and saw a tree of about the same size. He made a dash at the tree, put his right foot on it, and-- His father winked, but said nothing. For all elephants love a joke. Now the wily old elephant knew that this tree was a banana tree, although the fruit had not yet started growing on it. The tree looked quite hard and strong, but it was really very soft and easy to break, like all banana trees. But Salar did not know that yet! [Illustration: An Elephant Breaking a Tree with his Foot] Instead, when he pressed on it with his foot and put his whole weight on it, just as he had seen his father do to the other tree,--snap went the tree like a twig, and Salar tumbled head over heels and went rolling over the ground. "Haw! Haw! Haw!" laughed the merry old elephant. "Did I not show you, silly, how to try it first carefully, with your trunk, before putting your foot on it?" "Of course you did!" Salar said, remembering. "That is what men folks mean when they say, 'You have put your foot into it.' You must remember _never to put your foot into anything before trying it first with your trunk_," the old elephant went on to say. "Now watch me knock down a still bigger tree."