Mahmoud beats it and teases it whenever it is not with me; he
takes its food, and when it screams with rage he laughs and shows his
white teeth. He upset all the chairs in the veranda this morning, and
when I attempted to scold him he took a banana which he was peeling and
threw it at me. I am sure that he would have a great deal of rough wit
if he could speak our tongue.
The night I came, Mr. Low's clerk, a Singhalese, came to arrange an
expedition, and early the next morning, after I had breakfasted with
the apes, he arrived, bringing the Royal Elephant, as well-broken and
stately an animal as I should wish to ride. He is such a height (they
say ten feet!) that, though he lay down to be mounted, a good-sized
ladder was needed for the climb upon his back. Assam put pillows and a
good lunch into the baskets, and as the day was glorious from sunrise
to sunset I had an altogether delightful expedition.
We turned at once into the jungle, and rode through it for seven hours
on the left bank of the Perak river.
