SOUTH AFRICAN SUPERSTITION. C99 



manner as a dog, his persecutor to his home, and, 

 if fire be burning on the hearth, will seize a lighted 

 brand with his trunk, and fire the dwelling over its 

 owner's head." 



The Namaquas, it is to be remarked, stand in 

 great dread of the elephant, and few are bold 

 enough to attack him, either on horseback or on 

 foot ; and fewer still will venture to taste of the 

 creature's flesh, "because," say they, "his sense is 

 so like unto that of a man." 



With certain tribes it is, moreover, the belief that 

 the herd (of elephants) has a chief, or captain, who 

 never caters for himself, but is supplied with sus- 

 tenance by his subjects. These chiefs are said to 

 be regular swells in their way, their hides and tusks 

 being beautifully clean, thanks, no doubt, to the 

 fair sex by whom they live surrounded. 



Another superstition regarding the elephant, very 

 prevalent in Southern Africa, is " that, after the 

 death of the animal, his companions drag the body 

 away to a distance and bury it." The almost un- 

 heard-of existence of a perfect specimen gives some 

 countenance, it must be confessed, to the idle story, 

 which to my mind is easy enough of solution : for, 

 however imperishable the giant structure may ap- 

 pear, the bones, on becoming separated from their 

 joints and sockets, are no doubt dispersed by the 

 hyaenas and other carnivorous animals. Even the 

 ponderous head may be found hundreds of paces 

 removed from where it was first deposited. 



They tell you, moreover, that " if, when the ele- 

 phant is crossing a river, or taking a bath, he is 



