The Elephant Keeper Read online

  Shewing my ignorance, I asked him what he meant by “tusks,” whereupon he spread his arms and described two great scimitars of white horn, jutting not from the temples, as one would suppose, but from the sockets in the roof of the Elephant’s mouth. The sailor said, it was a matter of regret that Nature had not supplied human beings with such weapons, which would have proved very useful. He also said that whoever bought these young Elephants would regret their purchase, for they would grow up full of rage and irritability, like the angry male.

  Remembering Mr. Harrington’s words about travellers’ tales, I thought that this account of giant tusks might contain more invention than truth; however, both the tusks and teeth of the dead male were forthwith brought out of the ship. The teeth were well worn, testament to years of grinding, and reminded me of horses’ teeth, though they were much larger, the two largest being as large as house-bricks, while the tusks were smooth and curved and long, though not quite as long as the sailor had told me. One tusk was somewhat longer than the other, and though the tip of the longer tusk was pointed, that of the shorter of the tusks had been blunted. Also, when he had compared them to scimitars, I had supposed that they had sharp edges, which would slice off a man’s hand like the blade of a sword; whereas they were rounded. In colour, they were more cream than white.

  Mr. Harrington now came to me. “Tom,” said he, “is it your opinion that these miserable creatures are likely to live?”

  I was a good deal flattered to be asked for my opinion, and also very uncertain how to reply. Both Elephants were breathing, but little more could be said in their favour; it seemed unlikely that either would survive for long. However, not wanting to answer entirely in the negative, I confidently suggested that they should be offered fresh water, and that if they drank it would be a sign that they might live. Pails of fresh water were promptly procured, and placed in front of the animals. Since their eyes were closed, they could scarcely be aware of what they were being offered; therefore, having received permission from Captain Hall, I cautiously crouched by the nearer of the Elephants, a female, and splashed a little water into her face. When she did not respond, I lifted her trunk, as I later learnt that it was called, and laid it across the back of my neck. This moment, when I touched an Elephant for the first time, when I felt the dry, wrinkled quality of its skin, when I felt the warmth of its skin, as warm as that of a human being, is one that I find hard to describe, but a great tenderness for the creature ran through me. By slowly straightening, I was able to lift the trunk and draw open the mouth of the Elephant, and into this dark cavern I poured a quantity of water. It vanished into the creature’s throat like a stream vanishing into a hole in the ground. I poured off the entire contents of the pail, and was reaching for another pail when the Elephant’s trunk seemed to slide off my neck, and to curl toward her mouth in search of further refreshment. At this sign of life I rejoiced greatly. After giving her the second pail, I turned my attention to the other Elephant, which I now saw to be a male, for two short tusks were poking from the skin above its mouth. I lifted its trunk, which was much heavier than that of the female, and laid it over my neck; but though I poured three full pails of water down its throat it failed to stir, and seemed past recovery. Mr. Harrington, who had watched all this, now turned to Captain Hall.

  I had supposed that Mr. Harrington might purchase the tusks or some teeth; it never occurred to me that he would buy the Elephants. He was not, in general, the kind of man who acts out of a whim, or some passing caprice; his decisions were amply considered and based on Reason. In the end I believe that he bought the Elephants partly out of compassion, partly to please Joshua, on whom he doted, and partly as a shrewd piece of business, which might end in a handsome profit. He paid, as I understand, the sum of fifty guineas for the pair. Captain Hall, stuffing the coins inside his coat, did not look contented, but no other gentlemen having made an offer, he had little choice. If the Elephants had died, as seemed most likely, he would have received nothing for his pains.

  Presently Mr. Harrington sent me for a cart and two horses, and I ran to College Green like the wind, dodging the sledges and drays and waggons. Martin Pound, another of Mr. Harrington’s grooms, had also come to Bristol. He was an old man, more than sixty years of age, and very slow, both in his actions and his wits; indeed I think perhaps he had always been slow, but age had slowed him even further. “Elephants?”—“Yes.”—“Two Elephants? Mr. Harrington has bought two Elephants?”—“He has.” The more I attempted to impress Martin with the need for haste, the slower he became. He sat on a wooden stool and shook his head in a doleful fashion, as if bemused at the extent of human folly. “Two Elephants? Why? Where will they live? Who is to look after them? What will they eat? How big are they?” At length he rose stiffly to his feet and hobbled toward the cart-house, but it was a good hour before we had put the horses in the shafts and returned to the quay.

  The male Elephant was still alive within its crate, but its breaths came very quick and uneven, and I was sure that it lay on the point of death. The crate was nailed up, and with great difficulty and much shouting was lifted aboard the cart and bumped up the hill to College Green. Once it had been set down in the stable-yard, the cart hurried back to the quay and fetched the female Elephant.

  Each crate having been placed in a separate stable, Martin and I dismantled the boards, while Joshua and his father watched. At this moment Mrs. Harrington appeared. She was astonished at her husband’s purchase, as well she might be, given his previous assurances. “Is this wise?” she cried. “Have you not considered that these animals may prove dangerous?” Putting his arm to her waist, he replied that the Elephants were no danger at present—and indeed they were in no condition to harm a flea—and that they were not rapacious and cruel, like tygers or wolves. “On the contrary, from what I hear, they are intelligent beasts, with gentle natures, who become greatly valued and loyal servants. If so in the Indies, why not here in England? Besides, they will at all times be under the care of Tom and Martin. We need have nothing to fear.”

  Once the two animals were settled on some straw, we cut the shackles with which they had been bound on the voyage. These shackles had chafed harshly and cut into the skin, and the wounds were discharging a foul fluid. We cleaned and dressed them as well as we could. Throughout this operation, the Elephants did not stir, and indeed for many hours they lay exhausted and asleep, while the sun came in the tops of the stable doors and shone on their wrinkled grey bodies. Sparrows chattered in the rafters, and every so often a bold sparrow might land on the ear of the stronger of the two Elephants, the female, and hop a little way over her head. The sun set, night fell; and when the succeeding day saw no change in their condition, I wondered whether they ought to be bled (and indeed my father, who was a strong advocate of bleeding, later chided me for failing to bleed them). In truth, I was not at all confident of finding a vein to open under their skins, and Martin was no help in the matter. He told me that, for his entire life, he had been a horse groom, not an Elephant groom, and that he knew nothing about Elephants, and had no desire to learn anything about Elephants, and intended to have as little as possible to do with Elephants. For all he cared, he said, I might take sole charge of the creatures. Though I too knew nothing about the care or behaviour of Elephants, I was strangely pleased by this arrangement.

  As they lay like this, I had an excellent opportunity to begin my Elephant education by inspecting every inch of their bodies. Their skin was very dry, and in places looked like the bed of a dried pond, but it was softer than I had expected. Their huge ears were crinkled and stiff, and on each of their feet there sprouted a set of bony nails, the toes being concealed within the flesh. The fore-feet each had five nails, while the hind feet had four apiece, and the pads of the feet were covered in a hide so hard that it felt like horn. Their tails were thin straggling things, two feet long, and ending in tufts of hair, like the tails of oxen, which I thought unworthy of such great animals.

 
; With some trepidation I peeled open their mouths. The tongues were fat and fleshy and there were four massive grinding teeth in each jaw, but no cutting teeth. The teeth of both the male and female were still strong and little worn, and from this, comparing them in my mind with the wear on the teeth of horses, I guessed that the Elephants were between eight and ten years old. Examining the trunks, I found that at the end of each was, not only a pair of nostrils, but also, above these nostrils, a kind of prottrusion or extension, like a finger, which is the means by which an Elephant is able to pick up tiny objects. I do not know the name for this finger, though I have often thought that it ought to have a name.

  I was able to take the dimensions of both animals, which at this time were as follows:

  FEMALE

  From foot to foot, over the shoulder

  12 feet, 11 inches

  From the top of the shoulder, perpendicular height

  7 feet, 3 inches

  From the top of the face to the insertion of the tail

  9 feet exactly

  Trunk

  5 feet, 1 inch

  Diameter of foot

  9 inches

  MALE

  From foot to foot, over the shoulder

  14 feet, 11 inches

  From the top of the shoulder, perpendicular height

  8 feet, 5 inches

  From the top of the face to the insertion of the tail

  10 feet, 2 inches

  Trunk

  5 feet, 10 inches

  Diameter of foot

  1 foot, 1 inch

  From this it may be seen that with Elephants, as is generally the case in Nature, the female is in every particular smaller than the male.

  As with the Elephant which had died at sea, the tusks of the male were different in length. From base to tip, the right tusk measured thirteen inches, whereas his left tusk measured only ten inches and was somewhat blunter. This discrepancy at first seemed odd, but I later found the explanation, which is that a particular tusk is always used for digging, much as human beings use a particular hand for writing, and that this tusk is therefore gradually worn away.

  Although I was unable to weigh the Elephants, I believe that each weighed about the same as a large bull, or less, for they had been starved on the voyage and their skins hung slack on their bones. As they lay asleep, little Joshua frequently visited the stables—for, like me, I believe, he had fallen in love with the Elephants—and together we would watch as their bodies rose and fell with each breath. We would rest our hands on their warm skins, or press our ears against their sides and listen to the slow beating of their hearts. Once, I remember, he asked me if the Elephants would die, and I told him that I hoped not. “They must not die,” he declared in a fierce voice, “I will not allow them to die” whereupon he knelt and began to pray for their recovery, and I knelt as well, and who can tell that our prayers did not succeed, for soon after this the stronger of the two Elephants, the female, took a long draught of water, after which she fell asleep again. The male remained on the border between Life and Death for much longer, and although he drank water on the third day it was not until more than a week had passed that he began to make a slow recovery.

  After two or more weeks, both Elephants had struggled to their feet, and I was able to tempt their appetites with fresh hay and vegetables, which I bought in quantities from the Corn Market in Union Street. Once they had remembered how to eat, they ate in prodigious haste, cramming their mouths, I would say full, but an Elephant has a very capacious mouth. They liked fruits and vegetables of all kinds, including turnips, beans, and potatoes, and had an excessive fondness for carrots. I remember the great excitement they both shewed when I first placed a heap of carrots in their feeding troughs. This relish of carrots being so marked, made me speculate that the Elephants must know what carrots were; in short, that the taste of the carrots must stimulate memories of their lives in the natural state. Whether this is so I cannot say for sure; I have asked several travellers who have seen troops of wild Elephants in the Cape and the Indies, but none has ever been able to recall whether there were carrots present.

  Their consumption of water was vast, amounting to a dozen barrels a day, and I also gave them fresh milk, in order to help them recover their strengths. Here I should mention that, when Elephants drink, they do so by means of their trunks, which they use as straws, sucking up long draughts of liquid which they squirt into their mouths. I have heard it said that very young Elephants do not use their trunks, but bend down to drink directly with their mouths; whether this is true or not I do not know, but I never saw my two Elephants using their mouths to drink. However, they were clumsy, and it was not uncommon for them to knock over the pails with their feet, which when they understood an expression of surprize would cross their faces. Their pleasure in food and drink was evident, and once they had finished their meal they would demand further nourishment by waving their trunks and uttering little squeals.

  One thing I quickly discovered was that their sense of smell was acute, far more acute than that of a horse; whether as sharp as that of a blood-hound I would not know, but if I entered the stables with a carrot or another tid-bit in one of my pockets, both Elephants would promptly scent it out, and the way in which their trunks greedily reached toward the pocket and, indeed, into the pocket, made me think that they could all but see with their trunks. This cannot be so, and yet in an Elephant the scent organ, which lies in the tip of the trunk, is so sensitive that it is akin to a third eye. Once, when the male was asleep, I made the experiment of concealing some carrots in a heap of hay, and upon awakening he instantly detected the carrots and tossed the hay aside to reach his favourite food.

  I was exceedingly cautious of their strength and power, and took care not to be caught between their bodies, nor against the stable walls, when I might easily have been crushed. I kept them in view all the time; I did not once turn my back on them, or let them gain any advantage of me with their trunks, which would suddenly sway in my direction. They had suffered so much on the voyage that they might easily nurture a hatred of human beings, and I had no intention of letting them take their revenge upon me. If they felt hatred, however, they never shewed it in their eyes, which rather seemed to convey an utter weariness. The eyes of an Elephant are close-set and small, relative to the vast size of the skull, indeed, they seem to be much smaller than the eyes of horses, which appear large and globular; but they are nonetheless highly expressive.

  Mr. Harrington and little Joshua regularly came to see the Elephants, and Joshua always wanted to pet them, as he did the horses; but this I strongly counselled against. However, I would hold him up to the stable doors, and then he would offer each of the great animals a carrot, which they would twitch from his hands.

  “Do you think they will ever forget the experience of the voyage?” Mr. Harrington asked me once.

  I answered that both dogs and horses would remember ill-treatment many years after it had happened. Mr. Harrington said he had heard from one of his acquaintances, a certain Mr. Coad, who had travelled widely in the Indies, that Elephants had infinitely superior memories to other animals, indeed, in that respect, were perhaps second only to Man, and that it was likely that some traces of their ordeal would never be lost. “Yet I believe,” he continued, “that by treating them with kindness and respect, we may gradually cause these unhappy memories to dim in their minds.”

  Mrs. Harrington also visited. She was very nervous of the Elephants, and even more so when she saw me lifting Joshua toward them, in order to give them carrots. Her husband assured her that the boy was entirely safe, and Joshua said fiercely, “Tom will look after me!” but she remained fearful. She asked how much larger the Elephants would grow, and Mr. Harrington said he believed that they might grow a good deal more; the male would grow larger than the female. She said, “No one else owns Elephants, why should we?”—“If I had left them by the quay, they would have died.”—“It might have been better if they had,” she
said. Mr. Harrington: “How so?” Mrs. Harrington: “Because, as they increase in size, they will grow more dangerous.” Mr. Harrington: “That they may grow larger does not mean they will be more dangerous. They are peaceful enough now, are they not?”—“At the moment, they are.” Mrs. Harrington looked very uncertain, however. Mr. Harrington smiled: “Would you prefer me to have bought you a little Negro boy, for a pet slave?”—“Not at all,” she replied, “you know that I abhor slavery, it is a barbaric custom.”—“Yet it serves a need,” he answered, “and indeed most slaves are grateful to their masters, for how otherwise would they be cloathed and fed? How would they live?”—“That may or may not be, but I still do not understand what you purpose in keeping these creatures.”—“I myself am not sure, but everything has a purpose. In time, they may breed.”—“Why, I very much hope not,” cried Mrs. Harrington, “if they are brother and sister, as you say!”—“So the Master of the Dover told me, but who knows?” replied Mr. Harrington. This was the first time that I had heard of the Elephants being brother and sister, or of the idea that they might breed.

  The history of the Elephants before their capture is a blank, and for a long time I was not even sure whether they were from the Indies or from the Cape, though this particular doubt I later resolved when the same Mr. Coad, whom I mentioned earlier, came to see the two animals at Harrington Hall, and told me that they must come from the Indies: for in the Indies, the male grows tusks, while the female does not; however in the island of Ceylon none of the Elephants, either male or female, grows tusks, whereas in the Cape the male and the female both have tusks, though the females’ are no more than short things.