Among the animals too there are many examples of this phenomenon. For instance, in India the monkeys sometimes come to a village from the forest and destroy all the roofs of the houses. There is always one among them which is the leader. When he jumps, all the other monkeys jump after him. When he wants to go back to the forest, they all go back to the forest.

In the northern provinces near Nainital and Nepal, at the foot of the Himalayas, there is jungle in which there are elephants. The natives have many different ways of catching these elephants, and one way is to dig a pit and cover it over with a net and branches; then they hang their hammocks up in the trees, and there they stay for some days watching for the elephants. They are quite happy in the trees, because the climate is pleasant. If a herd of elephants happens to go that way, one elephant puts his foot in the net and falls into the pit; he cannot help himself. When he cries out, the other elephants look on from a distance, but are afraid to go near, and the men have a kind of firework with which they frighten them away if they do.

Now in a troop of elephants there is always one which walks in front. He holds a stout branch in his trunk, and he knocks on the ground with it before every step to see whether there is a pit. Then, if the ground is safe, he goes forward and all the others follow him. He knows about a thousand other dangers. The herd have such confidence in him that wherever he goes, they go too. This shows that the quality of leadership exists among elephants, and also the tendency to self-sacrifice. The elephant that is the leader goes first, realizing that if there is a pit he may fall in and the other elephants will be safe. He is careful, however, not to go anywhere where it is not safe, and if an elephant is caught it is generally some small elephant which has no sense and does not follow the leader.

In Nepal, the Maharaja had an elephant which was just such a leader. He lived in the Maharaja's palace, and the Maharaja gave orders that no one should ride him but himself, because he honored the elephant, recognizing his qualities. I have seen this myself. Whenever Maharaja Bir Shamsher went into the forest elephant hunting, this elephant was taken too. The Maharaja had named him Bijili, which means 'lightning'. He was very small, but if they failed to make a catch, Bijili was sent out, and he always came back with another elephant, such was his magnetism. He did not like to catch elephants, because he possessed the quality of mercy, he would never go unless he was forced by the mahouts, and when he saw the other elephants, at first he turned his head away. This shows that even among animals the prophetic tendency exists.