Storia do Mogor 206.5

206.5

In addition to the above elephants there are fourteen hundred others that are employed to carry the queens, princesses, and the prince's concubines, the tents, the baggage, and the kitchen utensils. The strongest of all, who have no tusks, draw the heavy artillery over difficult ground and perform such-like duties. The lowest among them has three rupees a day and three servants. All the elephants move with bells attached to their body, serving to warn the passers-by and give them time to move and get out of the way ; for when an elephant runs, or merely walks, he does not stop like a horse would.
When the king makes them (the elephants) fight, the wives of the drivers remove their ornaments, smash their bracelets, and put on mourning, just as if they were widows. If their husbands come back alive they give a great feast, just as if newly married ; for in these encounters and combats the drivers put their lives in great jeopardy, as I have seen several times. Moreover, though these animals are enormously strong, they do not have long lives, for often they fall suddenly to the ground and die in a short time. For, once they have fallen down, there is no hope of getting them up again ; that is why they remove their tusks and leave them where they are.