2 2 TJie Wild Elephant. 



The colour of the animal's skin in a state of nature is 

 generally of a lighter brown than that of those in cap- 

 tivity ; a distinction Avhich arises, in all probability, not 

 so much from the wild animal's propensity to cover itself 

 with mud and dust, as from the superior care which is 

 taken in repeatedly bathing the tame ones, and in rub- 

 bing their skins with a soft stone, a lump of burnt clay, 

 or the rough husk of a coco-nut. This kind of disci- 

 pline, together with the occasional application of oil, 

 gives rise to the deeper black which the hides of the 

 latter present. 



Amongst the Singhalese, however, a singular prefer- 

 ence is evinced for elephants that exhibit those flesh- 

 coloured blotches which occasionally mottle the skin 

 of an elephant, chiefly about the head and extremities. 

 The front of the trunk, the tips of the ears, the forehead, 

 and occasionally the legs, are thus diversified with stains 

 of a yellowish tint, inclining to pink. These are not 

 natural ; nor are they hereditary, for they are seldom 

 exhibited by the younger individuals in a herd, but ap- 

 pear to be the result of some eraptive affection, the irri- 

 tation of which has induced the animal in its uneasiness 

 to rub itself against the rough bark of trees, and thus to 

 abrade the outer cuticle.' 



To a European these spots appear blemishes, and the 

 taste that leads the natives to admire them is probably 

 akin to the feeling that has at all times rendered a white 



' This is confirmed by the fact that have been captured by noosing, pre- 

 the scar of the ancle wound, occasioned sents precisely the same tint when 

 by the rope on the legs of those which thoroughly healed. 



