421 



THE ELEPHANT 



back three or four thousand weight ; upon its 

 tusks alone it can support near a thousand : 

 its force may also be estimated from the velo- 

 city of its motion, compared to the mass of its 

 body. It can go, in its ordinary pace, as fast 

 as a horse at an easy trot ; and, when pushed, 

 it can move as swiftly as a horse at full gallop. 

 It can travel with ease fifty or sixty miles a 

 day ; and, when hard pressed, almost double 

 that distance. It may be heard trotting on at 

 a great distance ; it is easy also to follow it by 

 the track, which is deeply impressed on the 

 ground, and from fifteen to eighteen inches in 

 diameter. 



In India they are also put to other very dis- 

 agreeable offices ; for in some courts of the 

 more barbarous princes, they are used as exe- 

 cutioners : and this horrid task they perform 

 with great dexterity : with their trunks they 

 are seen to break every limb of the criminal 

 at the word of command ; they sometimes 

 trample him to death, and sometimes impale 

 him on their enormous tusks, as directed. In 

 this the elephant is rather the servant of a cruel 

 master than a voluntary tyrant, since no other 

 animal of the forest is so naturally benevolent 

 and gentle ; equally mindful of benefits as 

 sensible of neglect, he contracts a friendship 

 for his keeper, and obeys him even beyond his 

 capacity. 



In India, where they were at one time em- 

 ployed in launching ships, a particular elephant 

 was directed to force a very large vessel into 

 the water : the work proved superior to its 

 strength, but not to its endeavours ; which, 

 however, the keeper affected to despise. 

 " Take away," says he, " that lazy beast, arid 

 bring another better fitted for service." The 

 poor animal instantly upon this redoubled its 

 efforts, fractured its skull, and died upon 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 the per- 

 sons of the shop, desirous of some amusement, 

 pricked the animal's trunk with his needle, 

 and seemed highly delighted with this slight 

 punishment. The elephant, however, passed 

 on without any immediate signs of resentment; 

 but corning to a puddle filled with dirty water, 

 he filled his trunk, returned to the shop, and 

 spurted the contents over all the finery upon 

 which the tailors were then employed. 



An elephant in Adsmeer, which often pnssed 

 through the bazar or market, as he went by a 

 certain herb- woman, always received from her 

 a mouthful of greens. Being one day seized 

 with a periodical fit of madness, he broke his 

 fetters, and running through the niarkt t, put 

 the crowd to flight, and among others, this 

 woman, w ho in her haste forgot a little child 

 at her stall. The elephant recollecting the 

 spot where its benefactress was accustomed 

 to sit, took up the infant gently in its trunk, 

 and conveyed it to a place of safety. 



At the Cape of Good Hope it is customary 

 to hunt those animals for the sake of their 

 teeth. Three horsemen, well mounted, and 

 armed with lances, attack the elephant alter- 

 nately, each relieving the other, as they see 

 their companion pressed, till the boast is sub- 

 dued. Three Dutchmen, brothers, who had 

 made large fortunes by this business, deter- 

 mined to retire to Europe, and enjoy the fruits 

 of their labours ; but they resolved, one day 

 before they went, to have a last chase, by way 

 of amusement : they met with tlu-ir game, and 

 began their attack in the usual manner : but, 

 unfortunately, one of their horses falling, hap- 

 pened to fling his rider ; the enraged elephant 

 instantly seized the unhappy huntsman with 

 his trunk, flung him up to a vast height in the 

 air, and received him upon one of his tusks, 

 as he fell ; and then turning towards the other 

 two brothers, as if it were with an aspect of 

 revenge and insult, held out to them the im- 

 paled wretch, writhing in the agonies of 

 death. 



The teeth of the elephant are what produce 

 the great enmity between him and mankind ; 

 but whether they arc shed like the horns of 

 the deer, or whether the animal be killed to 

 obtain them, is not yet perfectly known. All 

 we have as yet certain is, that the natives of 

 Africa, from whence almost all our ivory 

 comes, assure us, that thry find the greatest 

 part of it in their forests ; nor would, say they, 

 the teeth of an elephant recompense them for 

 their trouble and danger in killing it : not- 

 withstanding, the elephants which are tamed 

 by man, are never known to shed their tusks; 

 and from the hardness of their substance, they 

 seem no way analogous to deers' horns. 



The teeth of the elephant are very often 

 found in a fossil state. Some years ago, two 

 great grinding teeth, and part of the tusk of 



