262 THE ELEPHANT. 



Offendeth none ; but leads a qiiiet life 

 Among his own contemporary trees, 

 Till Nature lays him gently down to rest, 

 Beneath the palm which he was wont to make 

 His prop in slumber ; there his relics lie 

 Longer than life itself had dwelt within them. 

 Bees in the ample hollow of his skull 

 Fill their wax citadels, and store their honey ; 

 Thence sally forth to forage through the fields, 

 And swarm in emigrating legions thence ; 

 Then little burrowing animals throw up 

 Hillocks beneath the over-arching ribs ; 

 While birds within the spiral labyrinth 

 Contrive their nests." 



The impression on the minds of many people, 

 indeed, is that the elephant is a harmless creature, 

 and that, as with the giraffe, it is almost a crime to 

 destroy him. That in countries where he is left 

 altogether undisturbed, he is peacefully inclined, not 

 only towards the brute creation, but to mankind, I 

 can readily believe ; but in those where he is subject 

 to molestation, he can hardly be said to retain his 

 innocuousness, as instances innumerable are on 

 record, both in Africa and elsewhere, of his attack- 

 ing travellers and others who have not offended 

 him in any way. 



In India, indeed, it would appear that large male 

 elephants (there called fjoondalis, or saims) are not 

 seldom found wandering from the herd, whence the 

 natives believe they are driven as a punishment for 

 their ferocious excesses. These animals are a terror 

 to the district, as, without the slightest provocation, 

 they will attack every man, woman, or child that 

 chances to cross their path. 



