The Elephant Is Of All Beasts The Most
Sagacious, Of Which I Shall Give One Instance, Which Was Reported To Me
As A Certainty.
An elephant upon a hard journey having been ill-used by
his keeper, and finding the fellow asleep one
Day near him, but out of
his reach, and having green canes brought him as food, he took hold of a
cane by one end with his trunk, and reached the other end to the
keeper's head, which was bare, his turban having fallen off, and
twisting the cane among his long hair, drew the fellow towards him, and
then slew him.
The king has many dromedaries, which are very swift, and are used for
coming with great speed to assault any city, as was once done by this
king's father, who assaulted Ahmedabad in Guzerat, when he was supposed
to be at Agra; going there with 12,000 men in nine days upon
dromedaries, striking such terror into the Guzerats by his sudden
arrival, that they were easily reduced. This king has much reduced the
numbers of the Rajaput captains, who were idolaters, and has preferred
Mahometans, who are weak-spirited men, void of resolution; so that this
king is beginning to lose those parts of the Deccan which were conquered
by his father. He has a few good captains yet remaining, whom his father
highly valued; but they are out of his favour, as they refused to join
him in his unnatural rebellion against his own father.
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