NOTE-BOOK OF A NATUR^VLIST. 53 



after giving him another spear, which flew harmless off 

 his tough hide, he was left to pursue his way. 



Eight elephants were soon afterwards reported as being 

 at no great distance, and coming towards the party; and 

 they all mounted for the purpose of chasing away the 

 beasts, which appeared to be unwilling to go, and did not 

 even turn their backs till the horsemen were quite close, 

 and had thro^vn several spears at them. The flashes 

 from the pan of the gun seemed to alarm them more than 

 an}i:hing ; but they retreated very majestically, flrst 

 thro^ving out, like the elephant first encountered, a 

 quantity of sand. On their backs were a number of birds 

 called tuda (a species of bujohaga, probably), described 

 as resembling a thrush in shape and note, and represented 

 as being extremely useful to the elephant, in picking off 

 the vermin from those parts whicli it is not in his power 

 to reach. 



In his excursion to Munga and the Gambarou, Major 

 Denham and his party came, just before sunset, upon a 

 herd of fourteen or fifteen elephants. These the negroes 

 made to dance and frisk like so many goats by beating 

 a brass basin with a stick ; and in the neighbourhood of 

 Bornou these animals were so numerous as to be seen 

 near the Tchad in herds of from fifty to four hundred. 



In temper the African elephant is considered to be 

 more ferocious than the Asiatic, which may be one reason 

 that it is not now tamed. But it is clear that the Car- 

 thaginians availed themselves of its services in war ; and 

 it can hardly be doubted that the elephants which Coesar 

 and Pompey exhibited in the amphitheatre came from 

 Africa. 



The tusks of this species are of grand dimensions, and 

 form a lucrative branch of trade. The ivory of them 

 being as much prized in modern times as it Avas by the 

 ancients for furniture, ornamental purposes, and, above 

 all, for the chryselephantine statues, such as those of the 



