Elephant 



water, as they would be unable to rise again 

 owing to their huge bulk, so they have to rest 

 one limb by turns. That seems to correspond to 

 our idea of sleep. They dearly love a bathe in 

 water, where they are free from the stinging bites 

 of mosquitoes, in a marsh for choice, and will 

 stay in it for a whole day at a time up to their 

 girths in mud, now and then squirting water over 

 themselves. When thus occupied, as well as 

 when travelling quietly, one may hear a peculiar 

 rumbling sound, said to emanate from the 

 stomach, and I believe it is undecided as to 

 whether this is the cows talking to their calves or 

 what it is, but the majority agree that it is only 

 heard when they are, so to speak, happy, and 

 unaware of any close proximity of danger. 



It is very hard to distinguish the bulls from 

 the cows when they are feeding, as one only 

 catches a stray glimpse of a shining tusk or a 

 twitching ear now and again, and the bulls are 

 probably in the middle of the herd covering ten 

 to fifteen acres, added to which the cows are on 

 the outside, and usually very much on the qui 

 vive. If a cow gets one's wind it is a decided 

 nuisance, as besides standing the chance of a 

 sudden and messy end, one is not allowed to 

 shoot them (except of course in strict self-defence), 

 and then, when one has so fired one's rifle to 

 defeat the brute, the herd is off like a flock of 

 sheep, crashing and tearing through the jungle in 



73 



