Decr. 17—
Dr Sir
On reading the e⟨ ⟩ ⟨in⟩ the “Pall Mall” of the 16th ⟨ ⟩ to me that the following fac⟨t might⟩ interest you— That tame elephants as a rule do not breed in India is undoubtedly the case—for when the Male becomes “musth” (like the “rutting” of the stag) he is generally so vicious that he is tied up & starved till he becomes quiet—for weeks or perhaps longer— —
I kept 2 Elephants for shooting a full grown male & a Female— They were always fed in my presence on my return from office & afterwards allowed to graze in the compound or ⟨half line⟩ for an hour. ⟨half line⟩ spring of 1855 The ⟨one-third line⟩ ‘musth” as usual but ⟨one-third line⟩ vicious no notice was ⟨taken⟩ & he was allowed his ⟨freedom⟩ ⟨as⟩ usual—& one evening ⟨one-quarter line⟩ chased the Female round the Compound & covered her as a Horse would a Mare— Thinking this an unusual occurrence I sent for 2 of my Friends to come over—& in presence of them & myself he again twice repeated the operation— In due course the female produced a cub but as she had to swim the Ganges & got “panked” or stuck in a quickstand ⟨two-thirds line⟩ violently to get ⟨two-thirds line⟩ caused the cub to ⟨half line⟩ one of my Friends Mr ⟨one-third line⟩ of the Civil Service is still ⟨one-third line⟩ my other Friend Mr A P Car⟨ ⟩ died many years since ⟨ ⟩
I am Dear Sir | Yrs faithfully | Thomas Barbot Beale | formerly of Bengal Civil Service
This occurrence took place at [Goruckpoor]—in the Bengal Residency
Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13777,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on