THE WHITE ELEPHANT.
Mention of the white elephant is found in the very early histories of
Oriental countries. In a work called the “Mahaw Anso,” the animal is
described as forming a part of the retinue attached to the Temple of the
Tooth at Anarájapoora in the fifth century after Christ; but it commanded
no religious veneration, being merely considered as an emblem of royalty.
White elephants were so valued in the sixteenth century, that the nations
of Pegu and Siam waged a war for many years about one; and, before it was
settled, five successive kings were killed, and thousands of men.
Horace mentions the white elephant in his “Epistles.” Democritus would
laugh at the populace,—
“Whether a beast of mixed and monstrous birth
Bids them with gaping admiration gaze,
Or a white elephant their wonder raise.”
Ælian refers to a white elephant whose mother was black. In the eleventh
century Mahmood possessed one, and when mounted upon it in battle he felt
assured of victory.
The question whether the white elephant was worshipped, or is at the
present time, in Burmah or Siam, is of considerable interest; and
authorities vary so, that the seeker after information is often puzzled.
I think that the status of the animal may be fairly expressed in the
following.
By the most intelligent and refined Burmese and Siamese, it is merely
considered as an invaluable adjunct to royalty. It is an important part
of the retinue of a court; and its presence is considered a lucky omen,
this superstition having an extremely strong hold upon the princes and
kings. The lower classes in some cases may have worshipped the white
elephant, and the attention paid to it by royalty may have easily been
misunderstood by the uneducated as reverence.
The fact that the white elephant is mentioned in the mythology of the
countries, and associated with Buddha, shows that it was undoubtedly
reverenced if not worshipped by some; and, if the veneration had not its
source in religious feeling, it was so nearly akin to it that it amounted
to the same thing.
The Siamese are extremely superstitious; but, before we condemn them,
we must remember how many of our sailors refuse to sail on Friday.
How a broken mirror or spilled salt alarms many otherwise intelligent
Americans! so that, when we learn from Major Snodgrass that in his time
in Burmah a mere grunt from the white elephant was supposed to have some
important significance, we need not be surprised. Any extraordinary
movement or noise made by the animal was quite enough at this time to
interrupt the most important affairs, and to cause the most solemn
engagement to be broken. Crawford thinks this was merely superstition,
and says, “I had here an opportunity, as well as in Siam, of ascertaining
that the veneration paid to the white elephant had been in some respects
greatly exaggerated. The white elephant _is not_ an object of worship,
but it is considered an indispensable part of the regalia of sovereignty.
Royalty is incomplete without it; and, the more there are, the more
perfect is the state of the kingly office considered. Both the court
and the people would consider it as peculiarly inauspicious to want a
white elephant, and hence the repute in which they are held. The lower
orders, however, it must be observed, perform the “shiko, or obedience of
submission,” to the white elephant; but the chiefs view this as a vulgar
superstition, and do not follow it.”
On the other hand, Vincent states that the white elephant has been
happily termed the Apis of the Buddhists. “It is held to be sacred by
all the Indo-Chinese nations except the Annamese. It is revered as a god
while living, and its death is regarded as a national calamity.... Even
at the present day the white elephant is worshipped by the lower classes;
but by the king and nobles it is revered and valued not so much for its
divine character, being the abode of a transmigrating Buddha, as because
it is believed to bring prosperity to the court in peace, and good
fortune in war. The more there are of them, the more grand and powerful
the state is supposed to be.”
From this somewhat conflicting statement, we may infer that the white
elephant was formerly worshipped; but, at the present day, the estimate
that I have given may be applied.
The association of the white elephant with the religious sects of India
is well known; but how much it was reverenced from the association, it
is impossible to tell. Sir John Bowring gives the following reasons
for believing that the animal was held sacred, principally, “because
it is believed that Buddha, the divine emanation from the Deity, must
necessarily, in his multitudinous metamorphoses, or transmissions through
all existences, and through millions of æons, delight to abide for
some time in that grand incarnation of purity which is represented by
the white elephant.” While the _bonzes_ teach that there is no spot in
the heavens above, or the earth below, or the waters under the earth,
which is not visited in the peregrinations of the divinity,—whose every
stage or step is towards purification,—they hold that his tarrying may
be longer in the white elephant than in any other abode, and that, in
the possession of the sacred creatures, they may possess the presence
of Buddha himself. It is known that the Singhalese have been kept in
subjection by the belief that their rulers have a tooth of Buddha in the
Temple of Kandy and that, on various tracts of the East, impressions
of the foot of Buddha are reverenced, and are the objects of weary
pilgrimages to places which can only be reached with difficulty: but with
the white elephant some vague notions of a vital Buddha are associated,
and there can be no doubt that the marvellous sagacity of the creature
has served to strengthen their religious prejudices. Siamese are known to
whisper their secrets into an elephant’s ear, and to ask a solution of
their perplexities by some sign or movement. And most assuredly there is
more sense and reason in the worship of an intelligent beast than in that
of stocks and stones, the work of men’s hands.
[Illustration: PLATE XI.
THE WHITE ELEPHANT, TOUNG TALOUNG.
_Property of Barnum, Bailey & Hutchinson._
_Page 117._]
Kircher says that “the veneration which, in the Burman Empire, is paid
to the white elephant, is in some degree connected with the doctrine of
metempsychosis. Xaca sustained seventy thousand transmigrations through
various animals, and rested in the white elephant.” Hindoo mythology
teaches that the earth is supported by eight elephants; and that this was
believed, is shown by Bernier, who witnessed a dialogue between an aga
at the court of Delhi, and a Pundit Brahmin. The harangue concluded with
these words: “When, my lord, you place your foot in the stirrup, marching
at the head of your cavalry, the earth trembles under your footsteps; the
eight elephants, on whose heads it is borne, finding it impossible to
support the extraordinary pressure.”
In the Rámáyana, one of the most celebrated sacred books of the Brahmins,
is a very curious account of the journey of a party of men who penetrated
to the interior of the earth, and had an audience with the famous
elephants. It will be seen from the following, that the white elephant is
an important member of this subterranean band:—
“The sixty thousand descended to Patala, and there renewed their digging.
There, O chief of men! they saw the elephant of that quarter of the
globe, in size resembling a mountain, with distorted eyes, supporting
with his head this earth, with its mountains and forests, covered
with various countries, and adorned with numerous cities. When, for
the sake of rest, O Kakootstha! the great elephant, through distress,
refreshes himself by moving his head, an earthquake is produced. Having
respectfully circumambulated this mighty elephant, guardian of the
quarter, they, O Rama! fearing him, penetrated into Patala. After they
had thus penetrated the east quarter, they opened their way to the south.
Here they saw that great elephant Muhapudma, equal to a huge mountain,
sustaining the earth with his head. Beholding him, they were filled with
surprise; and, after the usual circumambulation, the sixty thousand sons
of the great Sugura perforated the west quarter. In this, these mighty
ones saw the elephant Soumanuca, of equal size. Having respectfully
saluted him, and inquired respecting his health, these valiant men,
digging, arrived at the north. In this quarter, O chief of Ruzhoo! they
saw the snow-white elephant Bhudra, supporting this earth with his
beautiful body.”
The Persians have, according to Chardin, a festival in honor of the
inspiration of an elephant, when Abraha, a prince of Yemen, marched an
army to destroy the Kaaba of Mecca, the sacred oratory which Abraham
built in that city. Prior to the birth of Mohammed, the Arabians
reckoned from this epoch, which they called the year of the coming of
the elephants. The tradition is thus told in Sale’s Koran: “The Meccans,
at the approach of so considerable a host, retired to the neighboring
mountains, being unable to defend their city or temple. But God himself
undertook the defence of both. For when Abraha drew near to Mecca, and
would have entered it, the elephant on which he rode, which was a very
large one, and named Mahmud, refused to advance any nigher to the town,
but knelt down whenever they endeavored to force him that way, though he
would rise and march briskly enough if they turned him towards any other
quarter: and while matters were in this posture, on a sudden, a large
flock of birds, like swallows, came flying from the sea-coast, every one
of which carried three stones, one in each foot, and one in its bill; and
these stones they threw down upon the heads of Abraha’s men, certainly
killing every one they struck.”
In many old works, reference is made to the fact that the elephant was
a religious animal. Kircher, in his description of China, gives a plate
showing a white elephant worshipping the sun and moon, which was copied
from the Chinese. It was supposed that all elephants worshipped the sun.
Pliny says, “We find in him qualities which are rare enough amongst
men,—honesty, prudence, equity, religion also, in his worship of the sun
and moon. Authors say, that, in the forests of Mauritania, the elephants,
at the sight of the new moon, descend in troops to a certain river called
Anelo, where they solemnly wash themselves, and, having rendered their
homage to the star, return to the woods, supporting the young ones that
are fatigued.”
According to Vincent, in Pali Scriptures it is duly set forth “that the
form under which Buddha will descend to the earth for the last time, will
be that of a beautiful young white elephant, open-jawed, with a head the
color of cochineal, with tusks shining like silver sparkling with gems,
covered with a splendid netting of gold, perfect in organs and limbs, and
majestic in appearance.”
It would seem from the above, that there was at least little doubt that
among some classes in ancient times the white elephant was worshipped.
The term white is deceptive. The pure white elephant figured on the arms
and flag of Siam has conveyed the impression that the Siamese and Burmese
possessed pure white proboscidians; but this is a gross error. A pure
white elephant probably never existed, at least was never captured. All
the so-called sacred elephants of the present and former days possessed
very few characteristics to distinguish them from ordinary elephants
to be met with any day in Bombay. Mr. Barnum’s white elephant is an
exceptionally fine example, being whiter than many owned in Siam, and
much more so than the late white elephant of Theebaw. In fact, the white
elephant is not white at all, the term being applied to any elephant who
shows the slightest evidence of albinism. There are two terms applied to
abnormally white or black animals,—albinism and melanism. The former is
given to animals, including men, who have a deficient supply of coloring
matter; while the latter is associated with those who have an excess of
pigment. Men and women with white hair and pink eyes, the white rabbit,
etc., represent the albino phase; and the white elephant belongs to this
category, being simply an ordinary elephant, who, to a greater or less
extent, lacks coloring matter; and, as a result, it is often a dark mouse
color, a little lighter than the ordinary elephant, and has numerous
pinkish splashes about the head, or on various parts of the body. The
eyes in some are pink; and the toe-nails, when scraped, are perhaps some
lighter, and in some cases a yellowish white. The blotches of the white
elephant are not hereditary. It is the offspring of black parents, and
the condition does not affect the health of the animal in any way.
In India, the white elephant is not appreciated; but the Singhalese are
fond of elephants having the pink blotches which constitute a white
elephant in Siam or Burmah; and they are liable to be found in any
elephant country.
While we assume that the white elephant is not worshipped or revered by
the nobles of Siam and Burmah of the present day, the honor that is paid
it is somewhat astonishing. Thus, the King of Cambodia, who claims that
his ancestors owned seventy thousand elephants, is called the “first
cousin of the white elephant;” the prime minister of Siam, “general
of the elephants;” the foreign minister of Cochin China, “mandarin of
elephants;” while the late Theebaw and the King of Siam enjoyed the
distinction of being called “lord of the celestial elephant,” and
“master of many white elephants.”
The animal appears upon various objects, as the national emblem, the coat
of arms, medals, the buttons of officials, etc. The late white elephant
of Theebaw held a high rank and position at court, taking precedence
of the heir-apparent; or, assuming it to have been connected with the
British court, it would have been given precedence before the Prince of
Wales.
The Order of the White Elephant is one of the most honorable conferred,
and few have received it. Among them is Edward Arnold, author of “The
Light of Asia;” and it was reported some time before the Burmese war,
that the King of Siam was about to visit England for the sole purpose of
conferring it upon Queen Victoria.
The following is a copy of the parchment which accompanied the one
conferred upon Mr. Arnold. It is beautifully executed in gold, red, and
black, and is a curiosity in itself:—
SOMLECH PHRA PARAMINDR MAHA CHULALOUKORU, CHULA CHOM KLAO, King
of Siam, fifth sovereign of the present dynasty, which founded
and established its rule, Katana Kosindr Mahindr Ayuddhya,
Bangkok, the capital city of Siam, both northern and southern,
and its dependencies, Suzerain of the Laos and Malays and
Koreans, etc., etc.
_To all and singular, to whom these presents come._
KNOW YE, we deem it right and fitting, that Edwin Arnold, Esq.,
author of “The Light of Asia,” should be appointed an officer
of the most exalted Order of the White Elephant, to his honor
henceforth. May the Power which is most highest in the universe
keep and guard him, and grant him happiness and prosperity!
Given at our palace, Parania Raja Sthit Maholarm, on Tuesday,
the 11th waning of the lunar month Migusira, the first
month from the cold season of the year Toh Ekasole, 1241 of
the Siamese era, corresponding to the European date 9th of
December, 1879, of the Christian era, being the 4046th day, or
12th year of our reign.
(MANU REGIÂ) CHULALOUKORU, R.S.
Queen Victoria has, I believe, not yet received the order; but she is
not unacquainted with the veneration entertained by the Siamese for the
animal, as the following will show. Some years ago she sent an embassy
to the kingdom of Siam, consisting of several noblemen and officers of
rank, to conduct some diplomatic business; and, according to custom,
they carried some valuable presents to the king. Upon their return, the
latter, not wishing to be outdone by the Queen, delivered to Sir John
Bowring a gold box locked with a gold key, containing the most valuable
gift he could devise. Sir John, naturally thinking it a gem, perhaps
of great price, bore it carefully from Siam to England, and personally
presented it to her Majesty. Doubtless there was some curiosity in the
royal mind to know what was so precious as to require a solid gold box
and key; but it was not a gem,—though it may have been in the eyes of the
Siamese monarch,—and was simply a few hairs taken from the king’s white
elephant!
A Siamese ambassador, during a visit to London, thus referred to Queen
Victoria in language intended to be highly flattering: “One cannot but be
struck with the aspect of the august Queen of England, or fail to observe
that she must be of pure descent from a race of goodly and warlike kings
and rulers of the earth, in that her eyes, complexion, and, above all,
her bearing, are those of a beautiful and majestic white elephant.”
As these pink-splashed elephants are so esteemed, it is not to be
wondered at that there is constant search for them in the jungle;
and the fortune of him is made who discovers one. They are, however,
comparatively rare; and in thirteen hundred and fifty-two years, between
A.D. 515 and 1867, only twenty-four were captured, making about one
in every fifty-six years. The last one was captured in 1885, and was
conducted to the court of the King of Siam by His Royal Highness Somdetch
Chowf Mahamalah Bamrahp Parapako, amid much parade. His Majesty accepted
it, and made the fortunate finder, a poor native, a present of a sum of
money, as well as his mother and son. The Siamese officials who brought
the elephant to Bangkok, were honored with an audience by His Majesty,
and also given valuable presents.
In former days the ceremonies attending the capture of a white elephant
were very impressive. The discoverer, were he the humblest man in the
kingdom, was immediately made a mandarin: he was exempted from taxation
for the remainder of his life, and presented with large sums of money,
the king himself giving him one thousand dollars. As soon as the capture
was made, a special courier was despatched to the king, and a posse
of nobles with gifts and robes started immediately for the scene of
action. The ropes which the captors used in binding the royal victim
were replaced by stout cords of scarlet silk. Mandarins attended to the
slightest wants of the animal. Rich feather-fans with gilt handles were
used to keep the insects from it during the day, while a silk embroidered
mosquito-net was provided at night. To remove it to the capital, a boat
was built especially for the purpose, and a magnificent canopy erected
over it, ornamented and bedecked as were the king’s palaces. Silk
draperies, heavy with gold and silver, enclosed the royal prisoner; and
in this state he floated down the river, receiving the acclamations of
the people. When near the city, it was landed, the king and his court
going out to meet and escort it to the city, where a place had been built
for it within the royal palace-grounds. A large tract of land was set
apart for his country-place, chosen from the best the kingdom afforded. A
cabinet of ministers was appointed, and a large retinue of other nobles,
to attend to its wants. The priest of the king was ordered to administer
to its spiritual needs, and it had physicians to see to its physical
requirements. Gold and silver dishes were supplied to feed it from, and
every want was attended to as became one of the royal family. The city
devoted three days to festivities, and the rich mandarins made it rare
presents.
When a white elephant died, the ceremonies were the same as those of a
king or queen. The body lay in state for several days; and then it was
placed upon a funeral pyre, and cremated. This pyre often cost thousands
of dollars, being made of the choicest sandal, sassafras, and other
valuable woods. After the body had been thoroughly cremated, it was
allowed to remain three days more; then the ashes were collected, and
placed in costly urns, and buried in the royal cemetery, a magnificent
mausoleum being erected over the spot.
A friend of the author, who visited the land of the white elephant a
few years ago, states that, when he observed a white elephant, about
twenty natives were standing around, whom he was informed by the guide
were mandarins and nobles of the highest class, who formed the cabinet
of the elephant: in fact, they were a body selected for their dignity
and rank. One was chief minister of the cabinet, and the others held
different offices. Other nobles were attached directly to the person
of his celestial highness. One fed him with bananas and rare fruits
difficult to obtain: another gently brushed away the flies from its head,
and created a breeze. About the room were various objects which bespoke
its royal nature. The ropes, umbrellas, and blankets were of the finest
description, many being ornamented with seeming gems. Later he witnessed
the ceremony of the bath; and no spectacle, he said, that he had ever
observed in America, began to compare with it. The entire city seemed to
turn out and make a holiday of the occasion. When the march was taken up,
the elephant stepped out heavily caparisoned. Elegant silks, trimmed with
scarlet, silver, white, and gold, depended from its back: over its head
was held the royal umbrella, a gorgeous affair, supported by gilded rods
held in the hands of eight mandarins, four of whom marched on each side.
On the animal’s tusks were bands of solid gold; and as he moved solemnly
along, surrounded by other nobles, his ministers, and attendants, all in
rich garbs, with a shouting but respectful crowd all about it, it was
certainly an impressive and wonderful sight. At the river the trappings
were taken off, and the elephant plunged in and enjoyed himself after the
manner of plebeian elephants. When the bath was finished, its feet were
re-washed, and dried on a silken towel: the silks and rich stuffs were
then replaced, a band of music struck up, and the procession took up the
return march. Once at court, the newly captured white elephant is honored
by titles which are conferred upon him by the king, some of which are
“Gem of the Sky,” “Glory of the Land,” “Radiance of the World,” “Leveller
of the Earth,” etc.
The king often took advantage of the capture of an elephant, to
replenish the royal treasury; and, when the animal was housed in the
palace, an invitation was sent out to the rich merchants to come and
pay their respects. This meant literally to make presents to the white
elephant, which, of course, were used by the king. People who wished to
obtain favors from His Majesty, took this occasion to offer valuable
gifts. In some cases, it was money; in others, objects of art; and one
present was a vase of solid gold weighing four hundred and eighty ounces.
Zachard, an old traveller, saw a white elephant in Siam which was said
to be over two hundred years old, over which there had been much blood
shed. It lived in a magnificent pavilion, and had one hundred attendants,
who fed it from vessels of gold. When Mr. Crawford was in Siam, the king
had six white elephants; and the King of Ava possessed only one, which
was fastened directly in front of the palace. While Mr. Crawford was
in Ava, a report was sent to the king that a white elephant had been
captured, but it could not be forwarded without the destruction of ten
thousand baskets of rice. To which the king replied, “What signifies
the destruction of ten thousand baskets of rice in comparison with
the possession of a white elephant!” and the order for the beast was
immediately given.
The white elephant now in the possession of the King of Ava, who styles
himself “Lord of the White Elephant,” is, according to Vincent, a vicious
brute of medium size, with white eyes, and the forehead and ears spotted
white (pink), appearing as if they had been rubbed with pumice stone
or sand-paper; but the remainder of the body is as black as coal. The
animal is kept chained in the centre of a pavilion, surrounded by the
adjuncts of royalty, which consist of gold and white cloth umbrellas,
an embroidered canopy, a bundle of spears, dishes, etc. Mr. Vincent was
informed that a young white elephant had recently been captured in the
north-eastern part of British Burmah, near Tounghoo; but it died, and the
king had been “out of sorts” ever since.
Mr. Vincent also inspected the white elephants at Bangkok, and found
them fastened to posts in large sheds, covered with gilt canopies very
much as were those at Mandalay. The keeper fed the animals with bananas
in his presence, and caused the Apis of Buddha, as they call the animal,
to salute an American, probably for the first time. The salaam, or
salutation, consisted in raising the proboscis to the forehead, and then
lowering it slowly and gracefully to the ground.
With these white elephants were several white monkeys, which were kept to
ward off evil spirits. White animals of all kinds are considered abodes
of transmigrating souls by Buddhists. Sir John Bowring saw the white
monkey honored with special attention. The veneration received by white
elephants may perhaps be explained by the fact that all white animals are
believed to be the abiding-place of some mighty Buddha; and by possessing
such an animal, having the deity in the family, as it were, they may
receive any advantages that may accrue from the association.
Curiously enough, with the downfall of the infamous Theebaw came that of
his white elephant. The king left Mandalay, Nov. 29, 1885, accompanied
by his queen, Soopyalot. The day the city fell, the white elephant died;
and its body was dragged out of the palace-yard by the British troops on
the following day. It was reported that the king ordered its destruction
rather than have such a prize fall into the hands of the British.
This elephant, which was no whiter than the Barnum specimen, lived in
great pomp in the palace enclosure, eating and drinking out of huge
silver buckets.
The finest white elephant caught in late years is described by Mr. Carl
Bock, who states that it was brought into Bangkok with all the pomp and
ceremony of an emperor. According to Mr. Bock, it was quite an albino,
the whole body being of a pale reddish-brown color, with a few white
hairs on the back. The iris of the eye, the color of which is held to
be a good test of an albino, was a pale Naples yellow. The animal was
blessed and baptized in presence of the king and the nobility. One of
the high priests presented it with a piece of sugar-cane, on which was
written the elephant’s name in full, and which it very readily ate. The
following is a translation of its description painted on a red tablet,
hung over one of the pillars of its stall: “An elephant of beautiful
color; hair, nails, and eyes are white. Perfection in form, with all
signs of regularity of the high family. The color of the skin is that
of lotos. A descendant of the angels of the Brahmins. Acquired as
property by the power and glory of the king for his service. Is equal
to the crystal of the highest value. Is of the highest family of all in
existence. A source of power of attraction of rain. It is as pure as the
purest crystal of the highest value in the world.”
As the white elephant is so highly esteemed in the Oriental countries,
it would be surprising if obstacles were not laid in the way of their
being taken to foreign lands. Hence a white elephant was never seen in
a Western country before the advent of Mr. Barnum’s now famous Toung
Taloung, whose passage from its native country to America was highly
exciting and dramatic.
The first white elephant ever seen out of its native land was one that
was exhibited in Holland in 1633. The second was the Barnum elephant,
which was brought to England in 1884, and from there shipped to
America.[6]
Sir John Bowring states that it is almost impossible to put a price
upon a white elephant; and he mentions fifty thousand dollars as a sum
that might buy one; adding that a single hair from the tail of a white
elephant was worth a Jew’s ransom. The Barnum white elephant, it is
said, cost two hundred thousand dollars by the time it was landed in
America,—probably the most expensive pachyderm that ever lived. The
agents sent to Siam and Burmah by Mr. Barnum had instructions to obtain
the finest white elephant that money could buy. They crossed the Pacific,
sailed down the coast of China, and finally reached Siam, where they
endeavored to gain an interview with the first king. By him they were
referred to the second, who indignantly refused their offer to purchase
one of the white elephants. Some of the people, hearing of it, became
enraged; and the men narrowly escaped injury. For months they followed
up various clews, but at last found an elephant owned by the estate
of a nobleman, whose widow agreed to part with the animal, which to
her was an expensive luxury. Finally all arrangements were made; and
the elephant was placed in a boat, and floated down the Irrawaddy to
Rangoon. At almost every village they had difficulty, the people seeming
to have a strong objection to the creature leaving the country: finally
some fanatical natives secreted themselves in the steamer, and, it is
believed, poisoned the noble animal, for it died suddenly before reaching
Singapore. I have seen photographs of it, and the tusks are now in the
possession of Mr. J. H. Hutchinson of New York. The elephant was, if any
thing, a finer specimen than Toung Taloung.
The white-elephant hunters became so discouraged, that they returned
home, but were, however, sent out again, and went through almost a
repetition of their former experience. Through the influence of some
English residents, they finally secured a typical white elephant. The
permission of King Theebaw was essential before it could leave the
country, and this was obtained with the condition that the white elephant
should always receive the same attention that it did in Burmah. This was
readily consented to, as it was to Mr. Barnum’s interest to exhibit the
animal with the same surroundings that characterized its life in Siam.
The following is the bill of sale sworn to by H. Porter, Esq., notary
public at Rangoon:—
NINTH DECREE OF TA SUNG MONG 1245 (BURMESE ERA). AT KAREN
VILLAGE, DOANG DAMEE.
We who have signed below, Moung Tsaw, Kyah Yoe, Shoay Att
Hpaw, these three having heard the statement of the American
master, a rich man’s agent from a distant country who wishes
to have and possess the Nyan Zone [sacred elephant] Toung
Taloung, which we now own, from the estate of Htan Yoe Ban,
who is dead. We having sworn him [the agent] before God, and
under the holy tree on the hill, he promises he will take him
[elephant] straight to his master, to love and protect him from
all misery. If not, he knows he cannot escape the evil abode.
We have got from American master 30,000 gold rupees [about
$200,000] to repair our gods, images, and monasteries.
We write and give this document under our own free will and to
sign.
MOUNG TSAW.
KYAH YOE.
SHOAY ATT HPAW.
MOUNG H. PAY, _District Elder_.
A CERTIFICATE OF IDENTITY.
In the year 1245, month of Ta Sung Mong, fifth increase at
Mandalay, I, Moung Thee, minister of royal elephants, hereby
certify that the elephant named Toung Taloung is the species
of white sacred elephant, and possesses the qualifications and
attributes of such.
By order of
HPOUNGDAW GYEE HPAYAH,
_King and Lord of all White Elephants, Moung Thee_.
(Signed) W. MALLING, _Translator_.
Other papers and testimonials from prominent people accompanied these
documents, testifying to its identity; and, every thing being in
readiness, the march was commenced from Mandalay overland to Rangoon, a
distance of seven hundred miles. This trip was one of no little danger.
They were continually stopped in native towns; and rumors followed them
to the effect that King Theebaw had changed his mind, fearing that ill
luck would follow the loss of one of the animals. But finally the little
band, which consisted of several white men and natives, Toung Taloung,
and four black elephants, upon which were three white monkeys, the images
of the Buddhist god Gautama, the golden umbrellas, etc., reached the
Irrawaddy River, four hundred miles from Mandalay. In one village they
were nearly mobbed; in another imprisoned, and a lawsuit commenced. But
finally they were released; and the white elephant was placed on the
steamer “Tenasserim,” and, guarded day and night, crossed the Bay of
Bengal, and safely reached Liverpool, from where it was shipped to the
United States. I was invited to go down the bay on the special steamer
to be among the first to see a white elephant on American shores; and I
well remember the smile of satisfaction that illumined the face of the
genial Barnum, when an ex-United-States minister to one of the Eastern
countries, who was of the party, spoke up, and said, as we all stood
around the sacred beast in the hold of the “Lydian Monarch,” “I have seen
all the white elephants of the kings of Burmah and Siam, and consider
this an exceptionally fine example of what is known as the sacred white
elephant.”
The general public, however, expected to see a pure white elephant,
and naturally much criticism was provoked. I believe that Mr. Barnum
now claims as much credit in educating the American public as to what
constitutes a white elephant, as he did in bringing the historic animal
from its native country.
Toung Taloung is a finely formed elephant, about eight feet in height,
with perfect and finely developed tusks three feet in length. Its nails
are ivory-lined, and its general color a light gray, which presents
some contrast to ordinary elephants. Upon the head, trunk, and ears
are several pink blotches, white by courtesy, or, rather, because King
Theebaw chose to consider them so.
Toung Taloung has a mild and peaceful disposition, and does not object
in the slightest to being fed upon delicacies, and waited upon by native
attendants. He is now about sixteen years old.
A second so-called white elephant, the “Light of Asia,” was imported into
this country by Adam Forepaugh of Philadelphia soon after the advent of
Toung Taloung. It is a male, about seven years old, and a little over
five feet in height, its tusks just appearing.