LONDON — A 40-foot-tall mechanical elephant trudged through a London parade-ground Friday as part of a traveling theater show — using its piston-operated trunk to spray hundreds of awe-struck spectators with jets of water.

The 42-ton contraption, made mostly of wood and metal, was created by the French theater group Royal de Luxe as part of a play it performs as the beast is pushed along by a truck.

"It's terrifying! "I've never seen such a spectacle," exclaimed Japanese student Mina Yagi, 34, as the elephant approached a fence separating it from the crowd at Horse Guards Parade, normally used for royal ceremonies.

The animal is used by the troupe to help tell the story of a forlorn sultan beguiled by visions of a young girl whom he believed was traveling through time. The sultan builds a time-traveling elephant to lead him on a journey to find the girl, who is represented by a giant marionette towering 16 feet high.

The hydraulically operated elephant rolls along with wheels attached to the back and front, where an operator controls the steering. Several other operators harnesses lift the feet as the creature moves, while others control the trunk and blinking of the eyes.

Its floppy ears were created from 720 square feet of leather, while 22 pistons control the trunk, organizers said.

"We wanted to bring something really monumental, and free and accessible to the public here," said Helen Marriage, whose company Artichoke Productions helped bring the exhibit to London.

For Friday's performance, a loud boom signaled the start of the show as characters dressed as the sultan and his entourage mounted the pachyderm and towered over the crowd.

The creature drew gasps and cheers from the crowd as it swung its trunk from side to side, spraying water on people wilting under a sun worthy of midsummer.

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On the Net:

The Sultan's Elephant, www.thesultanselephant.com