ELEPHANT. 



553 



Elephant search of rice, sugar canes, and plantain trees, de- 



s - ~Y""" / solation marks their steps. The portion which they 

 consume is small, when compared with the quantity 

 which they trample down and crush with their feet. 

 They appear to give a decided preference to sweet 

 fruits, and to plants which yield sugar. 



Steep. The elephant, when young and healthy, lies down 



to sleep in the same way as other herbivorous animals 

 do ; but it is believed that, in an advanced period of 

 life, when the body becomes stiff, he usually takes 

 his repose in a standing posture, sometimes leaning on 

 a tree, or other support. When an elephant is first 

 taken, it is always considered as a good sign when he 

 lies down to sleep a few months after, as it shows him 

 to be of a good temper, not suspicious, but reconciled 

 to his fate ; but some elephants have been known to 

 stand twelve months at their pickets without lying 

 down to sleep, though occasionally they took a short 

 nap standing. 



Cries. The cries of the elephant are of three kinds. By the 



first, which is very shrill, and caused by his trunk, he 

 expresses his playful humour. The second is a low 

 note, produced by the mouth, and is expressive of want. 

 The third is a violent roar, proceeding from the throat, 

 and indicates irritation or revenge. 



Age. It is impossible to ascertain the age to which ele- 



phants arrive in a wild state. We may, however, form 

 some opinion of the term of their existence, by judging 

 from the circumstance, that, in a state of confinement, 

 they have been known to live a hundred and thirty 

 years ; and we are probably within proper bounds, 

 when we fix the extent of the period at two hundred 

 years. 



Reproduc- Th e sexual connection of the elephant has been the 



tion. subject of much discussion. As these animals rarely 



copulate in a domestic state, several naturalists have at- 

 tempted to account for the circumstance, by ascribing 

 to the elephant ideas of independence unknown even 

 to man, supposing them possessed of too much great- 

 ness of soul to propagate their species in bondage, and 

 beget a race of slaves ; or of too much modesty to suf- 

 fer any human creature, or even any of their own kind, 

 to witness their union. But reasons have lately 

 been assigned why the males seldom show much in- 

 clination to have connection with the females in a do- 

 mestic state. When a male elephant is taken in the 

 prime of life, he is bold and ungovernable, and is not 

 easily tamed until he is much reduced in body ; and 

 when thus brought low, it requires a considerable time, 

 as well as much attention and expence, before he can 

 be brought into such high order as is necessary to in- 

 spire him with thoughts of the other sex. Further, 

 unless he is of a gentle disposition, and disposed to put 

 confidence in his keeper, and thus escape the influence 

 of fear and distrust, he will shew no inclination for 

 sexual intercourse. But this continence of the elephant, 

 in a domestic state, lias been asserted without proof, 

 and in direct opposition to the testimony of the ancients. 

 The Romans collected elephants both from the east and 

 the south, to accompany their armies, and to add to the 

 parade of their courts ; and they had an opportunity of 

 witnessing the fertility of these animals in a state of 

 confinement, as their historians have faithfully recorded. 

 ./Elian says, " Cum Tiberii Cse&aris nepos Germanicus, 



gladiatorum spectaculum edidit, plures jam grandes 

 utriusque sexus elephanti Romae erant, e quibus alii pleri- 

 que generati extiterunt: quorum artus interea dum 

 committebantur et confirmabantur, et membra infirma 

 conglutinabantur, peritus vir ad pertractandos eorum 

 sensus animosque mirabili quodam disciplines genere 

 eos erudiebat." jElian (translation by Conrad Gesner) 

 de Animal. Nat. lib. ii. cap. 11. Columella more ex- 

 pressly affirms, " India perhibetur molibus ferarum mi- 

 rabilis, pan turn in hac terra ( Italy) vastitate belluas 

 progenerari quis neget, cum inter maenia nostra natos ani- 

 madvertamus elepbantos?" DeReRitslica.Yib. iii cap. 8. 

 These passages appear to have been overlooked by 

 succeeding observers, and every naturalist, in the ab- 

 sence of facts, was left to form his own opinion on the 

 subject At last an experiment was instituted in India, 

 by Mr Corse, * whose opportunities were favourable, and 

 whose talents and habits of observation qualified him for 

 the task. This gentleman was then Resident at Tipperah, 

 a province of Bengal, situated at the eastern extremity 

 of the British dominions in Asia, where herds of ele- 

 phants are taken every season. He kept a young hand- 

 some male elephant, of a most docile disposition, and a 

 favourite female together, in a spacious shade erected 

 on purpose for their accommodation. In the day they 

 went out together to feed ; they also brought home a 

 load of such succulent food as their drivers and attend- 

 ants could collect. After their return they stood to- 

 gether, slept near each other, and every opportunity 

 was granted them to form a mutual attachment. In 

 the evening they had each ten or twelve pounds of rice 

 soaked in water, to which a little salt was added ; and 

 from the middle of May until the latter end of June, 

 some warm stimulants, such as onions, garlic, turmeric, 

 and ginger, were added to their usual allowance of rice. 

 Long before this, however, a partiality had taken place, 

 u was evident from their mutual endearments, and ca- 

 ressing each other with their trunks, and this without 

 ceremony before a number of other elephants, as well as 

 their attendants. " Near the end of June 1793. (says Mr 

 Corse, ) I was satisfied the male would not, even to re- 

 gain his freedom, quit the object of his regard ; I there- 

 fore ordered the keepers to picket the female by one of 

 her fore-legs only, in the house where they stood, but to 

 leave the male at full liberty. Fearful, however, of 

 hurting their supposed delicacy, and thinking the near- 

 ness and sight of the attendants might possibly give 

 umbrage to their modesty, I desired them to remain 

 quiet in a little hut erected on the outside of the build- 

 ing appropriated to the elephants, where they could see 

 equally well as if nearer. On the evening of the 28th 

 of June 1793, the male was let loose from his pickets, 

 and soon after he covered the female, without any dif- 

 ficulty, although before this she never could have re- 

 ceived the male, being taken when very young, about 

 five years and a half prior to this period. The male 

 was then led quietly to his stall ; but early on the mom- 

 ing of the 2yth he became so troublesome that the dri- 

 vers, as they said, in order to quiet him, but partly I 

 suspect to indulge their own curiosity, permitted him 

 to cover her a second time, which he readily did before 

 the usual attendants, as well as a number of other spec- 

 tators. After this the driver brought me a particular 

 account of the whole process. Though much pleased 



Vow John Cone Scott, Esq. of Sinton, Selkirkshire, and Fellow of the Royal Society, whose excellent observations on the history of 

 the elephant, published in the Pkilotopltical Tramactiom, have contributed a number of the most important facts in this article, and whose 

 subsequent observations in MS. have been kindly submitted to our inspection and use. 



VOL. VJII. PART U. * A 



