ELEPHANT OVER THE ALPS

Some readers may remember the newspaper accounts of an expedition that set out from England and journeyed over the Alps accompanied by an 11-year old elephant from Italy. The purpose? To follow Hannibal's epic trail over unknown mountainous countryside, travelled more than two thousand years before. Young Cynthia Pilkington was a member of this famous modern expedition and her sharp account concentrates on the wonderful Jumbo who made friends wherever he went. The difficulties of keeping the gigantic creature warm, of bathing him, of leading him through dangerous terrain --the gay unexpected events of the trek -- the elephant's final triumph, create an unusual tale, made more interesting because it really happened.