The ivory king

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,—

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.

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:—

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:—

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.