218 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 



His companions could stand a certain amount of his 

 rude frolics, but at length they would unite their 

 forces and drive him to his corner of the inclosure, 

 where he would utter the well known bellow of sub- 

 mission. After patching up a truce, he might be 

 quite companionable for a few days, until his restless 

 spirit provoked a fresh onset. His inclination ran 

 chiefly to badgering the four Indian elephants in the 

 corral with him ; and they at length, after forbearance 

 ceased to be a virtue, made a fierce onslaught upon 

 the ill-mannered African, and so severely punished 

 him with thrusts of their tusks iii his neck and shoul- 

 der that a large vein was lacerated, and Conqueror 

 cried "hold, enough," for the last time. In two days 

 he was dead, and his carcass became the property of 

 the Cincinnati Society of Natural History. Our taxi- 

 dermist, Charles Bury, with a force of assistants, pro- 

 ceeded to flay the monster, and to preserve the skin 

 and skeleton. The dissection lasted several days ; 

 and during that time I endeavored to investigate the 

 organic peculiarities of this massive specimen of the 

 animal kingdom. 



It was estimated that the entire elephant weighed 

 more than five thousand pounds, and that the skin, 

 with some fat and fascia attached, would weigh over 

 eight hundred pounds. The integument was compar- 

 atively thin on the inside of the legs, and under side 

 of the abdomen, but on the back and exposed parts 

 of the creature the skin was more than an inch thick. 

 Surely the animal is entitled to be called a " pachy- 

 derm." 



The prominent peculiarities of the African ele- 

 phant are his untamable disposition, his prominently 

 convex forehead, his immensely large ears, and sloping 



