CHAPTER XXIII.

THE LORD WHITE ELEPHANT.

THE importance attached to the possession of a white elephant is traceable to the Buddhist system. The form in which Gautama Buddha entered the womb of Queen Maya to be born upon earth for the last time to "teach the Law and give the millions peace was that of a white elephant. The Saddan, or celestial elephant was an avatar of his many existences previously. The Saddan is gifted with special endowments, and is one of the seven precious things the possession of which marks the Sekyawaday, the Mahah Chakra Vartti Rajah, "the great wheel-turning king," the holy and universal sovereign-a ruler who appears once in a cycle, at the time when the waxing and waning term of human life has reached its maximum of an athinkaya (a huge period represented by a unit and 164 cyphers) in duration. Thus the possession of an undoubted white elephant stands as a sign and symbol of universal sovereignty; and every Burmese king longs for the capture of such a treasure during his reign as a token that his legitimate royalty is recognised by the unseen powers. The great river of Burma, the Irrawaddy, is named from Airawata, the elephant of Indra, a sufficient assertion of the proper dwelling-place of all his successors. Hence the

reverence of the Hindoos for the animal, and their not infrequent pilgrimages to Mandalay to see the royal animal and have a dursun, or interview of worship, with him.

All the elephants in the country, whether wild or tame, belong to the king: whoever captures one must give him up to the king, and he grants permission to the princes and to a few of the higher dignitaries to use them. The lucky discoverer of a white elephant is made a min-gyee, and is exempted from taxes and burdens of every kind for the rest of his life. Red and spotted elephants are also held in great esteem.

White crows, rats, mice, and hares, are common and easily distinguished; but it is different with a white elephant. He is not to be considered as snow-white: very far from it. All the white elephants now existing in Siam and Burma are of a light mouse colour, somewhat of the same tint as the pale freckles to be found on the trunk of almost every ordinary elephant. This light grey is uniform all over, the spots on the trunk being white. The depth of the colour, however, varies greatly; and there are often blemishes in the shape of darker patches which would seem to ruin an otherwise eligible candidate's claims. It has been, therefore, found necessary to determine some infallible test points, which will demonstrate the right of the animal to his title. Determining white elephants is quite a science, and there is a very considerable literature on the subject. The Burmese skilled men fix upon two of these tests as superior to all others. One is that the elephant shall have five toe-nails on his hind feet instead of four. This is a good way of making certain, but occasionally there are indubitably black elephants which have the sacred number of toes. These are white elephants debased by sin, labouring under the

evil kan of previous existences, and therefore ineligible for the honours accorded to the real animal. The other test is considered perfectly decisive, no matter what the precise tint of the skin may be. It is this: if you pour water upon a "white" elephant he turns red, while a black elephant only becomes blacker than ever. This is the final test always resorted to in Mandalay. A swarthy specimen who had five toe-nails and turned red when he was washed would be forthwith installed in all the honours and emoluments of the Sin-pyoo-daw, no matter what scoffers might say about his colour. Such a creature is the present Lord White Elephant in Mandalay. He would not be recognised as an albino by any except those who are learned in the science and well-versed in the voluminous and puzzling minutiae of the question. To most people he would seem an impostor, for his colour is a mixture of light-brown and dingy, smoke-smirched cream colour. The eye, when you know it, is perhaps the best rough test for an amateur. The iris ought to be yellow, with a reddish outer annulus. The effect of this is decisive to the connoisseur, if only sinister to the outsider. But the red ring represents the circle of the nine precious gems. In other respects the Sin-pyoo-daw is not attractive in appearance; he is very big, but, notwithstanding the care taken of him, he is remarkably lean and hollow-sided. His tusks, however, are magnificent-white, smooth, and curving forward in front of his trunk so that they almost meet. In his young days he was suckled by women, who stood in a long row outside his palace, and the honour was eagerly sought after, for the creature is a national pride. and not merely a royal monopoly. A hundred soldiers guard his palace, and the Sovereign of the Golden Throne himself makes offerings and pays him reverence. An establishment of thirty men waits on him, and among

them is a Minister of State who manages his affairs and looks after the revenues of the province that is assigned to him to "eat." His palace stands within the inner stockade and is decorated with the royal pya-that. Every day he is bathed with. scented sandal water, and all his vessels and utensils are made of gold. Troupes of the palace coryphées dance for his pleasure, and there are choruses of sweet-voiced singers to lull him to sleep.

Nevertheless his lordship is very bad-tempered, and his attendants are much afraid of him. Such things are, however, not unknown with human kings. On one occasion the Sin-pyoo-daw killed a man who had ventured too near, and there was a good deal of trouble and noise before the body could be got away from him. The king— Theebaw's father-heard the commotion, and inquired what was the matter. When he was told, he expressed great concern and not a little alarm for the future state of the Lord White Elephant, with the red stain of murder on him, blotting out hosts of previous good deeds. But the elephant's minister calmed his mind and restored him to equanimity by saying, "Pray do not be disturbed, payah; loo ma hoh' boo, kullah-it was not a man, only a foreigner."

Probably because he is so vicious, the present Lord White Elephant has never been ridden, as previous incumbents were. No one but the king himself could do so; and latterly King Mindohn became very fat and feeble, while King Theebaw's nerves are not strong enough. The Sin-pyoo-daw is king of elephants, and therefore none but a king may mount him. His royal trappings are kept in his palace, and are very magnificent. Draperies of silk and bands of rich red cloth run from the head-stall to the back and thence to the tail, hanging in curves over the body. They are richly embroidered in gold and

studded with rubies and emeralds. On the forehead is a plate of gold, recording his majesty's titles, such as is worn by every man of rank in the country up to the Arbiter of Existence himself. Bosses of pure gold and clusters of precious stones cover the head-stall, and golden tassels hang down over the ears. When he goes forth to take the air, he is shaded by golden and white umbrellas. He and the king share all the white umbrellas in the country between them. The king of men has nine; the king of elephants two, but he has also four golden ones. Not even the heir-apparent, if there were one, has a right to use the white umbrella. He must be contented with his eight golden shades; the display of a white one would be regarded as a declaration of rebellion, and would result in his immediate execution. No wonder, then, that the attendants and visitors take off their shoes when they enter the Sin-pyoo-daw's palace, and that the people bow down low and do humble obeisance when he passes through the streets. These are swept and sprinkled with water for him as for the King of the Golden Throne himself.

The Lord White Elephant's suite account for his irritable temper by the bad treatment which he met with in his early days. The royal coffers were low, and the English were clamouring for the last instalments of the Yandabo indemnity money. So the rents of the elephant were appropriated to pay off the troublesome foreigners. Every care was taken to soften the indignity. The king himself wrote a long address on a palm-leaf, requesting the Lord White Elephant not to take it amiss that his revenues were devoted to the payment of the barbarians. In any case he should not suffer, for the whole sum would be refunded in two months' time. The circumstance, however, seems to have preyed on his