332 THE ELEPHANT. [Part YIII. 



and open ground tlie chances are rather in fa\'our of the 

 elephant, as his pace in fidl flight exceeds that of man, 

 akhough it is far from equal to that of a horse, as has 

 been erroneously asserted.^ 



The incessant slaughter of elephants by sportsmen 

 in Ceylon, appears to be merely in subordination to the 

 influence of the organ of destructiveness, since the 

 carcase is never apphed to any useful purpose, but left 

 to decompose and to defile the air of the forest. The 

 flesh is occasionally tasted as a matter of curiosity ; 

 as a steak it is coarse and tough ; but the tongue is 

 as dehcate as that of an ox ; and the foot is said to 

 make palatable soup. The Caffres attached to the 

 pioneer corps in the Kandyan province were in the 

 habit of securing the heart of any elephant shot in 

 thek vicinity, and said it was their custom to eat it 

 in Africa. The hide it has been found hnpracticable 

 to tan in Ceylon, or to convert to any useful purpose, 

 but the bones of those shot have of late years been 

 collected and used for manuring coffee. The hak of 

 the tail, which is extremely strong and horny, is mounted 

 by the native goldsmith, and made into bracelets ; 

 and the teeth are sawn by the Moormen at Galle (as 

 they used to be by the Eomans during a scarcity of 

 ivory) into plates, out of which they fashion numerous 

 articles of ornament, knife-handles, card racks, and 

 presse-papiers. 



^ Shaw, in Lis Zoology, asserts I as a liorse am gallop. London, 

 that an elephant can run as s-wiftly | 1800-0, vol. i. p. 216. 



