The Asiatic species, carrying the head higher, has more dignitj' of appearance, and is believed to have more sagacity and courage than the African, which, however, is not inferior in weight or bulk, and has never been in the hands of such experienced managers as the Indian mohauts are, who have acquired such deep knowledge of the character of these beasts that they make them sul)mit to almost incredible opera- tions ; such, for example, as suffering patiently the extraction of a decayed part of a tooth, a kind of chis- el and mallet being the instruments used for the pur- pose. Ele])hants walk under water as long as the end of the proboscis can remain above the surface, but when in greater depth they float with the head and liack only aliout a foot l)ener.th it. In this mann(^r they swim across the l)roadest streams, and guide themselves by the sense of smelling till they reacli footing to look aliout them and land. They are steady, assiduous workmen in many laborious tasks, often nsing discre- tion when they require some dexterit}' and attention in the jierformance. Good will is all man can trust to in directing them, for correction cannot lie enforced beyond their patience ; but flattery, good treatment, kind words, promises, and n-wards, even to the wear of finery, have the desired effect. In history the}- ap- jiear most conspicuous as formidable elements of battle. From the remotest ages they'were trained for war by the nations of India, and by their aid they no doubt acquired and long held possession of several regions of
High Asia westward of the Indus. They are noticed in the ancient Mahabarata. According to Sauti, the relative force of elephants in an ukshuuMni, or great arm}' corps, was one to each chariot of war, three horse- men, and five foot soldiers, or, rather, archers mounted on the animal's back within a defensible lioicdah — in the West denominated a castle. Thus one armed ele- j)hant, one chariot, and three horsemen, formed a patti or squad of at most eleven men, and, if there were oth- er bodies of infantry in the army, they are unnoticed. This enumeration is sufficient to show that in India, which furnished the elephants and the model of arm- ing them, there were only four or five archers, with or without the mohaut or driver, and that, consequently, when the successors of Alexander introduced them in their wars in Syria, Greece, and even Italy, they could not be encumbered more than perhaps momentarily with one or two additional persons before a charge ; for the weight carried liy a war-elephant is less than that of one used for burden, which seldom equals 2000 pounds. In order to ascend his back when suddenly required, the animal will hold out one of his hind legs horizontally, allowing a person to step upon it until lie has grasped the crupper and crept up. In the West, where they were considered for a time of great impor- tance, no doubt the squad or escort was more consid- erable than in the East, and maj' have amounted to thirty-two foot-soldiers, the number given, by some mistake, as if actually mounted, in 1 Mace, vi, 37. Although red colors are offensive to many animals, it may be observed that the use of mulberry-juice or grapes must have been intended as an excitement to their taste, for the}' are all fond of fruit. Wine, so as to cause an approach to intoxication, would render them ungovernable, and more dangerous than when in a state of fear. They do not require stimulants to urge them on in a modern battle, witli all its flashes of fire, smoke, and explosion ; and red colors usually employed for their trappings produce more of a satis- factory feeling than rage. Judicious and long-con- tinued training is the only good remedy against sud- den surprises caused by objects not yet examined Ijy their acutely-judging senses, or connected with former scenes of danger, which are alone apt to make them turn. It is likely that the disciplined steadiness of well-armed ranks frightened them by their novelty more than the shouts of Macedonian thousands, which must have been feeble in the ears of elephants accus- tomed to the roar of hundreds of thousands of Indians. It is probable that the Carthaginians made the exper- iment of training African elephants in imitation of Ptolemy Philadelphus : they are noticed in their army only in the first Punic war; and, from what appears of the mode of managing them, there is reason to lie- lieve, as already noticed, that they were never so thor- oughly subdued as the Indian elephants (see Penny Cyclnpcrdia, s. v.). — Kitto, s. v. Elensinian M5'-steries, the sacred rites with ■ which tlie annual festival of Ceres was celebrated at I Elensis, a town in Attica, situated to tl;e north-west of Athens, and opposite the island of Salamis. They were the most ancient and most venerated mysteries of Greece, and were probably at first a national and harvest festival instituted to thank Demeter for the I gift of fruit, to remember the barbaric times preceding ! the introduction of agriculture, and to rejoice at the I progress made since. Both the founder of the myste- ries and the time of their foundation are unknown. It is p"obalile that the first foundation of them was laid 1 bv Thracians, who from Brcotia spread over "Western j Attica; and that they were farther developed by the I Athenians themselves, especially at the tiii.e of the ! Pisistratida;. The place in which they were celebra- ' ted was the temple of Demeter at Eleusis, a spacious, almost quadratic structure, which had been erected by the architect Iktinos, and was surrounded witli a 1 double vestibule (^p^ribolos). At the time when Her-