158 



long in the male, but not above one in the female. 

 They feed on grass, nuts, and other vegetables. 



Of all quadrupeds the elephant is the strongest as 

 well as the largest ; and yet in a state of nature it is 

 lieither fierce nor formidable. Mild, peaceful, and 

 brave, it never abuses its strength, and only uses it for 

 its own protection. In its native deserts tiie elephant 

 is a social friendly creature. The oldest of the com- 

 pany conducts the band, that which is next in seniori- 

 ty brings up the rear. The young, the weak, and 

 the sickly, fall into the centre, while the females carry 

 their young. They maintain this order only in dan. 

 gerous marches, or when they desire to feed in cultivat- 

 ed ground : they move with less precaution in the 

 forests and solitudes, but without ever removing far 

 asunder. 



Nothing, can be more formidable than a drove of 

 elephants, as they appear at a distance in an African 

 landscape : wherever they maich, the forest seems to 

 fall before them : in their passage they bear down the 

 branches on which they ft-ed ; and if they enter into 

 an enclosure, they destroy all the labours of the hns. 

 bandman in a very short time. Their invasions are the 

 more disagreeable because there is no means of repel- 

 ling them: since it would require a small army to at- 

 tack the whule drove when uniitd. It now and then 

 happens that one or two is found lingering behind the 

 rest, and it is against these that the art and force of the 

 hunters are united; biH: an attempt to molest the whole 

 body would certainly prove fatal. They go forward 

 directly against him who offers the insult, strike him 

 with their tusk, swze him with their trunks, iiing him 

 into the air, and then trample him to pieces under their 

 feet. But they are thus dreadful only when they are 

 offended, and do no manner of personal injury, when 

 suffered to feed without interruption. 



The elephant has very small eyes when compared to 

 the enormous bulk of its body ; but though their mi- 

 nuteness may at first sight appear deformed, yet, when, 



