The Elephants' Bath
I have just told you that, after drinking, the elephants jump into the
water and have a bath and a swim. That is, all the grown-up elephants
do that, while the little ones stay on the bank and play about.
But, you may ask, why does not the tiger try to grab one of the little
ones then? Because even when the Mammas go into the water they keep
their eyes on the babies, who play quite near by, so that the Mammas
can come to them any minute.
And the Mammas can _smell_ a tiger a little before he gets there, so
that they have enough time to climb out of the water. Besides, the
babies themselves can smell the tiger when he is coming; then they
call out to their Mammas by making a queer rumbling sound in their
throats, and the Mammas come to them at once, before the tiger can get
there.
So all the grown-up elephants can go into the water, without any
worry. And at first they have a regular shower bath.
How do they do that? Why, each elephant fills his trunk with water;
then he curls up the trunk in the air over his head and squirts the
water out, and it falls in a shower all over his body. You can see how
he does it in the picture. All the grown-up elephants do that, and
even those that are half grown.
After the shower bath, they swim about; but the Mamma elephants do not
do that. Why? Because they have to get busy and bathe their little
children. They call to the children to stop playing, and come and have
a bath--just as our Mammas do.
How do they call? Why, I must tell you at once that all kinds of
animals have _a language of their own_. They do not speak exactly as
we do, but make different sounds through their mouth or nose, and each
sound _means_ something.
If the Mamma elephant wants to say "Come here," she makes one kind of
sound, and the baby elephant has learned to know exactly what that
means. And if the Mamma elephant wants to say "Keep still," she makes
another kind of sound, and the baby knows also what that means.
[Illustration: An Elephant Giving himself a Shower Bath]
In this way all animals can talk among themselves. Of course they
cannot say many things, as we do, but quite enough to tell what they
want.
So each Mamma elephant calls to her child to come and stand on the
bank. Now, many of our children often hate to be bathed; and the
elephant children are just the same! In fact, the very small ones
actually cry and shriek, just like our babies!
_Elephant Child Obeys Mamma--or Gets Spanked_
But when the Mamma elephant calls to the baby to stop playing and come
and stand by the bank, the baby comes at once, even though it hates to
be bathed. The baby elephant obeys its Mamma almost the first time,
whatever she tells it to do.
But if the baby does not obey, does its Mamma spank it? Of course she
does--like all Mammas! The elephant Mamma does the spanking with her
trunk.
But I must tell you at once that an elephant child never gets spanked
more than once in its life--and that is enough! And some are so good
that they _never_ get spanked!
The elephant child learns very quickly to obey its Mamma and Papa, and
afterwards its trainer or teacher. The elephant child even obeys the
very minute it is told to do anything; in fact, sometimes in the
jungle there is a sudden danger, even if the elephant child does not
see the danger. But its Mamma or Papa sees it.
Then the Mamma or Papa calls out to the child to stop, or come away,
or do something, _at once_; and if the child does not do it at once,
it may get killed. Among men folks, if a child runs out into the
street, and an auto or a street car comes suddenly, then if the child
will not obey its Mamma at once and do exactly as she says, the child
may be run over and killed. In the jungle the elephant child also has
sudden dangers like that, though in a different way.
In the next chapter I shall tell you a wonderful story about a boy
elephant who escaped a great danger because he obeyed his Papa at
once.
But sometimes it happens that a boy elephant is really naughty--just
like a bad boy among men. As you know, a bad boy among men usually
grows up to be a bad man, and then he gets into a lot of trouble. In
the elephant herd it is just the same; a bad little elephant grows up
to be a bad big elephant; it is then called a _rogue_. In another book
I shall tell you how the President of the herd orders all the police
elephants to stand in a ring around the rogue and give him a most
awful spanking. And they do that, not with their trunks this time, but
with their _tusks_--which hurt most dreadfully.
_How the Elephant Child is Bathed_
But now I shall tell you about the baby elephant when its Mamma calls
it to come and be bathed. It comes to the edge of the bank, and stands
facing its Mamma. Then the Mamma fills her trunk with water, brings
the trunk quite near the baby, and squirts the water all over it.
The baby may howl and jump about and make faces, but it _never runs
away_! Again and again the Mamma squirts the water, till all the mud
and dust of the jungle is washed away from the baby's body. Then she
tells the baby to play about on the bank again, while she attends to
the bigger children.
What has she got to do to them? She must teach them to swim!
Of course _all animals with four legs know how to swim naturally_;
their bodies float in the water quite easily, and they have only to
work their legs to move along in the water. But with elephants it is a
little different. Why? Just think!
I shall tell you. Although they can float quite naturally, their noses
point downward right into the water. As I said before, the elephant's
trunk is its nose--that is, the elephant has to _breathe through the
trunk_. So of course, if in trying to swim a little elephant kept its
trunk down in the water, it would not be able to breathe at all, and
would die.
That is why the Mamma elephant has to teach her child how to swim
properly. And the way she does it is quite wonderful.
I must first tell you that the trunk is not only like a nose to the
elephant, but also is useful as a _hand_; the elephant can hold a lot
of things with it, and can even pick up with its tip a tiny thing as
small as a pin.
_How the Elephant Child Learns to Swim_
So the Mamma elephant stretches out her trunk before her, just like an
arm, and tells her child to lie across it. In that way she holds up
the child in the water, so that the little elephant has only to think
of curling up the tip of its own little trunk out of the water to
breathe. Then she tells her child to kick out with its legs, so as to
move forward through the water.
But sometimes, in kicking out, the little elephant forgets to hold up
the tip of its trunk out of the water at the same time; then down goes
its trunk into the water, and it cannot breathe!
Then what happens? The Mamma elephant can do nothing, as she is
already using her own trunk to hold up her child. So, what is to be
done?
Really, the elephants are so wise that they take no chances of that
happening. The Papa elephant takes care of that. When he sees that the
Mamma is teaching the little elephant how to swim, he always comes
near them. He may be swimming about, as if he were enjoying himself;
but he is really watching them all the time.
And if the little elephant forgets to hold up its trunk out of the
water, the Papa comes quickly, and with one upward stroke of his own
trunk he lifts up the little elephant's trunk clear out of the water.
Is not that very wise and thoughtful of the Papa elephant?
In that way the little elephant soon learns to do _both_ things--that
is, to kick out with its legs so as to move along, and also to hold up
its trunk to breathe. And then, of course, it can swim properly.
And yet the elephants are so very wise that they never take the risk
of tiring out a little elephant, if they have to swim a very long way.
Sometimes a whole herd of elephants has to swim across a very wide
river. Then the Mamma elephant tells her child to swim in front of
her, while she encourages the child from behind with many fond words.
But sometimes after swimming halfway across the river--
"Mamma, I am getting tired!" cries the little one.
"Then come on my back, darling!" says the Mamma.
She dives, and comes up right under the little elephant; so now her
child sits on her back. In that way she swims along, and carries her
child across the wide river, as you see in the picture.
[Illustration: An Elephant Mamma Carrying her Child across the River]