The European, being
unused to this attitude, will soon feel violent cramps shooting
through his limbs, added to which there is a disconcerting feeling of
instability in spite of the tightly grasped cords. Nothing, on the
other hand, can be more comfortable than a well-appointed howdah,
where one is quite alone except for the mahout perched on the
elephant's neck. The Maharajah's howdahs were all of cane-work, with a
softly padded seat and a leather-strap back, which yielded to the
motion of the great beast. In front was a gun-rack holding five guns
and rifles, and large pockets at the side thoughtfully contained
bottles of lemonade (the openers of which were _never_ forgotten)
and emergency packets of biscuits.
The Maharajah owned about sixty elephants, in which he took the
greatest pride, and he was most careful in providing his guests with
proved "tiger-staunch" animals. These were oddly enough invariably
lady-elephants, the males being apt to lose their heads in the
excitement of meeting their hereditary enemies, and consequently apt
to run amok.
My particular elephant, which I rode daily for five weeks, was an
elderly and highly respectable female named "Chota Begum." Had she
only happened to have been born without a tail, and with two legs
instead of four, she would have worn silver-rimmed spectacles and a
large cap with cherries in it; would have knitted stockings all day
long and have taken a deep interest in the Church Missionary Society.
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