126 HISTORY OF THE ELEPHANT. 



against any high degree of sagacity in the elephant, even 

 as compared with other animals. It is certainly inferior 

 to the dog, and probably also to the pig, an animal which we 

 are not in the habit of rating very high in the scale of in- 

 telligence. But the pig may be taught as many tricks as 

 the elephant, though it wants some of the mechanical 

 apparatus for the performance of them ; and a pig has 

 been trained to stand and point at game, which no ele- 

 phant ever did, even under the immediate guidance of its 

 mahaut, with the conducting iron stuck in the top of its 

 head. 



We have not made these few remarks with any view to 

 the disparagement of the elephant, but only to correct the 

 vulgar prejudice respecting it, and to elevate it to its true 

 and proper place in the animal kingdom, by doing what 

 we can to reduce the accounts of them within the bounds 

 of sober truth and real usefulness. 



When noticing the principal haunts of elephants in the 

 wild state, we omitted to mention, that though they are 

 found in places which have always too much moisture to 

 prevent their being burnt up, and are seldom far from the 

 water, and very often swimming and bathing in it with 

 apparent pleasure ; yet they always prefer the clear waters, 

 which have their banks comparatively firm. They some- 

 times spout muddy water over their bodies with their 

 trunks ; but they do not wallow in the mud or walk upon 

 the surfaces of deep and sludgy quagmires. Their weight 

 and the form of their feet are both ill adapted for such 

 places, and they would sink beyond the power of extrica- 

 tion. Neither are 'their feet suited to rough and stony 

 paths, nor even to those which are very much indurated, 

 as the soles of them are apt to get bruised, and thus the 

 feet of an elephant are the first parts that fail on a long 

 march. Elephants also move but slowly up a hill, evi- 

 dently on account of their great weight, and although the 

 same weight accelerates their motion down hill, they are 



