They Often Fight Before Him, Beginning Their Combats Like Rams, By Running Furiously Against Each Other, And Butting With Their Foreheads.

They afterwards use their tusks and teeth, fighting with the utmost fury, yet are they most careful to preserve their keepers, so that few of them receive any hurt in these rencounters.

They are governed by a hooked instrument of steel, made like the iron end of a boat-hook, with which their keepers, who sit on their necks, put them back, or goad them on, at pleasure.

The king has many of his elephants trained up for war; each of which carries an iron gun about six feet long, which is fastened to a strong square frame of wood on his back, made fast by strong girths or ropes round his body. This gun carries a bullet about the size of a small tennis-ball, and is let into the timber with a loop of iron. The four corners of the wooden frame have each a silken banner on a short pole, and a gunner sits within, to shoot as occasion serves, managing the gun like a harquebuss, or large wall-piece. When the king travels, he is attended by many elephants armed in this manner, as part of his guard. He keeps many of them likewise, merely for state, which go before him, and are adorned with bosses of brass, and some have their bosses made of silver, or even of gold; having likewise many bells jingling about them, in the sound of which the animal delights. They have handsome housings, of cloth, or velvet, or of cloth of silver, or cloth of gold; and, for the greater state, have large royal banners of silk carried before them, on which the king's ensign is depicted, being a lion in the sun. These state-elephants are each allowed three or four men at least to wait upon them. Other elephants are appointed for carrying his women, who sit in pretty convenient receptacles fastened on their backs, made of slight turned pillars, richly covered, each holding four persons, who sit within. These are represented by our painters as resembling castles. Others again are employed to carry his baggage. He has one very fine elephant that has submitted, like the rest, to wear feathers, but could never be brought to endure a man, or any other burden, on his back.

Although the country be very fertile, and all kinds of provisions cheap, yet these animals, because of their vast bulk, are very chargeable in keeping; such as are well fed costing four or five shillings each, daily. They are kept out of doors, being fastened with a strong chain by one of their hind legs to a tree, or a strong post. Thus standing out in the sun, the flies are often extremely troublesome to them; on which occasions they tread the dry ground into dust with their feet, and throw it over their bodies with their trunks, to drive away the flies.

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