THE TUSKS. 249 



killed by Mr. Oswoll was two hundred and twenty- 

 four pounds ; near to the point of their [nsertion in 

 the head they measured twenty-threejjaches in girth, 

 whilst their length along the curve was seven feet, 

 eleven inches. The tusks of another shot by a Boer 

 on the Mariqua River were still larger, weighing no 

 less than three hundred and three pounds. Gordon 

 Gumming speaks of one in his collection as mea- 

 suring ten feet nine inches in length along the 

 curve, and one hundred and seventy-three pounds 

 in weight. Methuen makes mention of a still finer 

 tusk, its perpendicular length being eleven feet, six 

 inches ; and Hartenfels, in his " Elephantographia," 

 speaks of one exceeding fourteen feet. But, enor- 

 mous as are the above dimensions, they are 

 as nothing in comparison with a tusk that, ac- 

 cording to Klokner, was sold at Amsterdam, the 

 weight of which was three hundred and fifty 

 pounds.* 



As a rule, I would remark, short tusks are 

 weightier in proportion than long ones. 1 once 

 shot a comparatively young male elephant, the 

 tusks of which, notwithstanding their being broken 

 off at the points, and that neither protruded above 

 six or seven inches beyond the lips, weighed forty- 

 three and fifty-seven pounds, respectively. Had 

 they been perfect, and fully developed, my firm 

 impression is they would have exceeded one hundred 

 and fifty pounds each. 



The formation of the tusks is very irregular, 



* Is it not possible that this tusk belonged to a defunct species of 

 elephant the so-called Mammoth-tusks, of which naturalists tell us, 

 have been known to weigh upwards of four hundred pounds each. 



