The Wonders of the Jungle Volume I Part 4

"Stay there!" cried his Papa, giving him another b.u.t.t, 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 astonis.h.i.+ng 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.

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 s.p.a.ce 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!

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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."

This tree was as thick as a man's body. After trying it first with his trunk and then with his foot, the wise old elephant put his back on it and _heaved_. Little by little the tree bent on that side, but not very much. The elephant stopped heaving, came around and looked at the tree. Then he began to heave from the _other_ side of the tree.

You have seen a man trying to loosen a nail from a board? He first hits the nail on one side, and then on the other side; and he goes on hitting the nail from side to side, till it is quite loose.

Well, that cunning old elephant did just the same thing to that tree; he first heaved the tree from one side, and then he heaved from the other side; and he went on heaving from side to side, till he loosened the tree from the ground. Then he pushed the tree with his foot, and it came out of the ground and fell with a loud thud.

And that is how Salar learned to heave with his body, though of course he could not loosen so big a tree just yet.

There were many other tricks that Salar learned from his father, and I shall tell you one of the best of them in the next chapter.

CHAPTER V

Elephants: The Tricky Trap

Salar and his father were going through the jungle, feeding from tree to tree, and from bush to bush. One day they saw a little clear s.p.a.ce and in the middle of it a banana tree--just one tree. But beautiful bunches of ripe bananas were growing on it from a large stalk.

Salar just loved bananas. In fact, all elephants do, as they cannot get them in the jungle more than once in many months; for bananas grow mostly in plantations kept by men. So Salar ran toward the tree joyously.

But the wise old elephant had seen at once that the s.p.a.ce all around the tree was rather level and clear of bushes. That was strange in the jungle, he thought!

Now, why did it look strange? Can _you_ tell? Why was it strange that the s.p.a.ce should be all flat and level, and clear of bushes? Just think!

Because in the jungle that was not natural! In the jungle the s.p.a.ce should be all covered with gra.s.s and bushes, or at least with small shrubs of different sizes, just as you have seen in fields which are allowed to grow wild. So somebody must have _made_ the place level and flat, and cleared away the bushes! That is what the wise old elephant thought!

Then, also, he had seen that there was just _one_ banana tree, with no other anywhere near it. That also seemed strange! Why? Because banana trees always grow in groups of many dozens, whether they are in the jungle or in a plantation.

"Halt!" the old elephant cried, just in time. Salar was not more than five or six yards from the tree when he heard his father's voice. I have told you before that, when an elephant child is told to do anything by his Mamma or Papa, he obeys _at once_, or else he might fall into some awful danger--just as a child in a town might get run over by an auto or a street car.

So as soon as Salar heard his father's voice, he halted just where he was. And that saved him, as you will see.

_The Elephant Taps Suspicious Ground with his Trunk_

His father came up to him, and looked around carefully. Then he _tapped on the ground with the end of his trunk_.

"An elephant must always tap with his trunk when he is coming to suspicious ground, before he puts his foot on it," he said to Salar.

"What does suspicious ground mean?" Salar asked.

"Ground where there might be danger, though you do not _see_ the danger," his father answered.

He went on a couple of yards, tapping the ground before him all the time. Then he suddenly stopped.

"Gr-r-r-rump!" he cried, "it sounds strange and hollow!"

Most carefully he put his foot forward and _felt_ the ground with it, as an elephant always does when he thinks there is danger. Now the ground _bent down_ a little just where he pressed it with his foot!

"I thought so!" he muttered.

Then he felt most carefully all along the _front_ edge of the open s.p.a.ce, first tapping it with his trunk, then pressing on it with his foot--of course with the toe end of the foot. And all along that front edge of the open s.p.a.ce the ground bent down a little wherever he pressed it with his foot.

Then he came to the _right side_ of the open s.p.a.ce where the banana tree grew, and tried the ground there also along the edge. And this ground too bent down a little wherever he pressed it with his foot.

He came to the _back_ of the open s.p.a.ce, and tried it in the same way.

And there also the ground bent down a little along the edge, wherever he pressed it with his foot.

He came around at last to the _left side_, and tried that also. And there again the ground bent down in the same way.