556 



ELEPHANT. 



Flcphant. ton came near, the animal struck at them with his 

 '"^Y"" 1 *' trunk, ami. in every respect, appeared as wild and out- 

 rageous as any of the other elephants. At length an 

 old hunter, coming and examining him narrowly, de- 

 clared he was the very elephant that had made hi* <-- 

 cape about eighteen month.-, before. Confident of this, 

 be boldly rode up to him, on a tame elephant, and or- 

 dered him to lie down, pulling him by the ear at the 

 tsmr time. The animal seemed quite token by sur- 

 prise, and instantly obeyed the word of command, with 

 as much quickncv. a-, the ropes with which he was tied 

 permitted ; uttering, at the same time, a peculiar shrill 

 squeak through his trunk, as he had formerly been 

 known to do, by which he was immediately recogni- 

 sed by every person who had ever been acquainted with 

 this peculiarity. Thus we see that this elephant, for 

 the space of eight or ten days, during which he was in 

 the enclosure, and even whde he was tying in the out- 

 let, appeared equally wild and fierce as the boldest ele- 

 phant then taken, so that he was not even suspected 

 of having been formerly taken, till he was conducted 

 from the outlet. The moment, however, he was ad- 

 dressed in a commanding tone, the recollection of his 

 former obedience seemed to rush upon him at once, 

 and, without any difficulty, he permitted a driver to be 

 seated on his neck, who, in a few days, made him as 

 tractable as ever." 



We shall conclude this account of the sagacity of the 

 elephant, by quoting a few of those stories, which have 

 been commonly related, as illustrative of the degree of 

 intellect which he is supposed to possess, for the pur- 

 pose of gratifying the general reader. 



In India, elephants were once employed in launching 

 of ships. One was directed to force a very large vessel 

 into the water ; the work proved superior to his 

 strength ; his master, with a sarcastic tone, bid the 

 keeper take away this lazy beast, and bring another in 

 his stead ; the poor animal instantly increased his ef- 

 forts, and, in doing so, fractured his scull on the spot. 



In Delhi, an elephant passing along the streets, put 

 his trunk into a tailor's shop, where several people 

 were at work ; one of them pricked the end of it with 

 his needle. The beast passed on ; but, in the next 

 dirty puddle, filled his trunk with water, returned to 

 the shop, and spurting every drop among the people 

 who had offended him, spoiled their work. 



An elephant, in Adsmeer, which often passed through 

 the bazar, or market, as he went by a certain herb wo- 

 man, always received from her a mouthful of greens. 

 At length he was seized with one of his periodical fits 

 of rage, broke from his fetters, and, running through 

 the market, put the crowd to flight ; and among others 

 this woman, who, in haste, forgot a little child she had 

 brought with her. The animal, gratefully recollecting 

 the spot where his benefactress was wont to sit, laid 

 aside his fury, and taking up the infant gently in his 

 trunk, placed it in safety on a stall before a neigh- 

 bouring house. 



Another in Dekan, not having received some arrack 

 which had been promised by the Cornac, or governor, 

 by way of revenge, killed him. The comae's wife, 

 who was an eye-witness to this, took her two children 

 and flung them before the elephant, saying, " Now, you 

 have destroyed their father, you may as well put on 

 end to their lives and mine." He instantly stopped, re- 

 lented, took the biggest of the children, placed him on 

 his neck, adopted him for his cornac, and never after- 

 wards would permit any body else to mount him. 



A soldier at Pnndichcrry, who was accustomed, when- Elephant 

 ever lie reeeived his >hare of liquor, to carry a certain s< "V""' 

 nuaiitity of it to one of tlu-M' animals, having one day 

 drunk rather too freely, anil, finding himself pursued 

 by the guards who were going to take him to prison. 

 took refuge under tlie elephant'' luxly, and fell asleep. 

 In vain did the j;uard try to force him from this asy- 

 lum, as the elephant protected him with his trunk. 

 The next morning, the soldier recovering from his 

 drunken fit, shuddered with horror to find himself 

 stretched under the In-lly of this huge animal. The 

 elephant, which, without doubt, perceived the man's 

 embarrassment, caressed him with his trunk, in order 

 to inspire him with courage, and made him understand 

 that he might now depart in safety. 



A painter was desirous of drawing the elephant 

 which was kept in the menagerie at Versailles, in an 

 uncommon attitude, which was that of holding his 

 trunk raised up in the air, with his mouth open. The 

 painter's boy, in order to keep t!ie animal in this pos- 

 ture, threw fruit into his mouth ; but as he had fre- 

 quently deceived him, and made an offer only of throw- 

 ing him the fruit, he grew angry ; and, as if be had 

 known the painter's intention of drawing him was the 

 cause of the affront that was offered him, instead of re- 

 venging himself on the lad, he turned his resentment 

 on the master, and, taking up a quantity of water in 

 his trunk, threw it on the paper on which the painter 

 was drawing, and spoiled it. 



SECT. II. Particular Description of the Species. 



WE come now to consider the situation of the ele- parting 

 pliant, in the system of nature, to examine the charac- descripiic* 

 ters of the different species, and point out their physical of the pc- 

 distribution. cies - 



It is but recently that naturalists began to investigate 

 the characters of the elephants of India and Africa, or 

 to suppose that they constituted two distinct species. 

 The ancients, who appear to have used in war animals 

 from both countries, were aware, that the elephants of 

 Africa were inferior both in size and courage to those 

 of India. But the characters which constitute them 

 distinct species, were never pointed out until Camper, 

 from the* form of the teeth, proved their title to rank as 

 independent species. The observations of Camper have 

 been still farther elucidated by the investigations of 

 Cuvier, who has, besides, added a third species to the 

 genus. 



By Linnaeus, the elephant is placed in the order Bru- 

 ta, in the class Mammalia, with the following generic 

 character: " Denies primores nulli utrinque, Laniarii 

 superiores elongati, Proboscis longissimus, prehensilis, 

 Corpus nudiusculum." By Cuvier the elephant is pla- 

 ced among the Pachydermata, or thick-skinned quadru- 

 peds, in company with the sow, the river-horse, and the 

 rhinoceros. Under this genus are now ranked the fol- 

 lowing species. 



So. 1. ELEPHAS Afncanus. The African elephant. African de- 

 Scitll rounded, processes of the enamel in the grinders P liant - 

 forming a series of lozenges touching each other tn the 

 middle ; ears large ; toes Jour before and three behind. 



The tusks of this species yield the best ivory, and are 

 the largest in point of size. The tusks of the female 

 differ but little in size from thoi-e of the male. The 

 ears are very large, and fall back and cover the shoulder. 

 The hide is of a deep brown colour. The ordinary 

 height is from eight to upwards often feet. 



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