66 The Wild Elephant. 



eagerly entered by the elephants to glean amongst the 

 stubble. 



Sportsmen observe that an elephant, even when en- 

 raged by a wound, will hesitate to charge an assailant 

 across an inter\'ening hedge, but will hurry along it to 

 seek for an opening. It is possible that, on the part of 

 the elephant, there may be some instinctive conscious- 

 ness, that owing to his superior bulk, he is exposed to 

 danger from sources that might be perfectly harmless in 

 the case of lighter animals, and hence his suspicion that 

 ever}^ fence may conceal a snare or pitfall. Some simi- 

 lar apprehension is apparent in the deer, which shrinks 

 from attempting a fence of wire, although it will clear 

 without hesitation a solid wall of greater height. 



At the same time, the caution with which the elephant 

 is supposed to approach insecure ground and places of 

 doubtful 1 solidity, appears to me, so far as my own ob- 

 servation and experience extend, to be exaggerated, and 

 the number of temporary bridges which are annually 

 broken down by elephants in all parts of Ceylon, is 

 sufficient to show that, although in captivity, and when 

 familiar with such structures, the tame ones may, and 

 doubtless do, exliibit all the wariness attributed to them ; 

 yet, in a state of liberty, and whilst unaccustomed to 

 such artificial appliances, their instincts are not sufficient 

 to ensure their safety. Besides, the fact is adverted to 

 elsewhere,^ that the chiefs of the Wanny, during the 



' " One of the strongest instincts is required to cross." — Menageries, etc. 



which the elephant possesses, is this "The Elephant," vol. i. pp. 17, 19, 66. 



which impels him to e.xperiment upon - Wolf's Life and Adventures, p. 



the solidity of everj' surface which he 131. 



