My wife Bonita and I were on a ship, maybe The President, when an emergency arose similar to that in a previous dream, possibly also a fire.  As before, we suspected that something was wrong some time before the official notification.  Water was almost to the edge of the decks when the order came over the PA system:  "Lower the lifeboats, Congressmen."  I didn't know whether that meant they were supposed to do the work or to be the first ones aboard.  I assumed the latter, which sort of irritated me.  Actually, though, everyone pitched in to lower them, and children were the first ones put aboard.  The lifeboats were very small -- not much bigger than a bathtub -- and it took so long to lower them that I began trying to figure out what we should do if we found ourselves in the water.  I had a hand in lowering one boat.  It was actually pulled by a rope along a sort of wire frame or net along the side of the boat until it got to the desired location.  A young girl or boy got it started, to my left, and I passed it on to a group of women and children to my right.    Again the transition is hazy.  We might have gone right over the edge on to dry land.  At any rate, we found ourselves in a yard sort of like Grandpa's back yard except larger, and bounded by woods rather than fence, and there was a group of elephants coming through a gate (maybe there was a fence after all.).  There were two or three very cute small ones and a half dozen or more adults.  While we were watching them in amazement at how close we could come to them (I even considered trying to "kidnap" one of the babies, but was prevented from getting too close by a mother who kept pushing me away with the end of her trunk), my daughter Christina wandered in among them.  I was horrified when I noticed, because although they seemed docile enough, I knew they could accidentally step on her.  But every time I tried to get through to her, they blocked my way threateningly, as if protecting their own young ones.  I gasped in horror as one started to lie down near Christina and almost lay right on top of her.  Fortunately, though, it was somewhat immobilized as a result, and I was able to rush up and snatch her away.