APPENDIX TO CHAPTER III. 



As Elian's work on the Nature of Animals has never, I 

 believe, been republished in any English version, and the 

 passage in relation to the training and performance of 

 elephants is so pertinent to the present inquiry, I venture to 

 subjoin a translation of the nth chapter of his 2nd book. 



" Of the cleverness of the elephant I have spoken elsewhere, 

 and likewise of the manner of hunting. I have mentioned 

 these things, a few out of the many which others have stated ; 

 but for the present I purpose to speak of their musical feeling, 

 their tractability, and facility in learning what it is difficult 

 for even a human being to acquire, much less a beast, hitherto 

 so wild : — such as to dance, as is done on the stage ; to walk 

 with a measured gait ; to listen to the melody of the flute and 

 to perceive the difference of sounds, that, being pitched low 

 lead to a slow movement, or high to a quick one ; all this the 

 elephant learns and understands, and is accurate withal, 

 and makes no mistake. Thus has Nature formed him not 

 only the greatest in size, but the most gentle and the most 

 easily taught. Now if I were going to write about the 

 tractability and aptitude to learn amongst those of India, 

 ^Ethiopia, and Libya, I should probably appear to be con- 

 cocting a tale and acting the braggart, or to be telling a 

 falsehood respecting the nature of the animal founded on a 



