DESTRUCTIVE TO VEGETATION. 295 



trouble the water. Some are of opinion they do 

 this to avoid being shocked with the reflection of 

 their own ugly shapes. But in my opinion, they 

 do it by the same instinctive laws which direct 

 geese, ducks, and other birds to mix sand or gravel 

 frequently with the water they drink, in order to 

 carry off crudities and indigestion." 



That elephants are very destructive to arborous 

 vegetation cannot be denied. Everyone who has 

 traversed the wooded regions of Southern Africa, 

 must admit such to be the case. In many instances 

 that have come under my own observation, this 

 destruction would seem to have been altogether 

 wanton. Often, indeed, have I seen regular ave- 

 nues, so to say, of trees that have been thrown 

 down by these animals without their having fed on 

 either their roots or branches; what, therefore, 

 could have induced them to take all this useless 

 trouble, is to me a mystery. " Possibly," as somo 

 one say?, " it was done to try their strength, or 

 one or other of the troop may have had the bump of 

 destructiveness about it ?" 



When elephants abound in the near vicinity of 

 man, they are certainly not at all times the best of 

 neighbours, as what follows will show : 



" In the year 1821," says Pringle, " during one 

 of my excursions in the interior, I happened to 

 spend a few days at the Moravian Missionary Settle- 

 ment of Enon, or White River. This place is si- 

 tuated in a wild but beautiful valley, near to the 

 foot of the Zwurberg Mountains, in the District of 

 Uitenhage, and is surrounded on every side by ex- 



