. 156 TIJ E ELEPHANT. 



come to examine it more minutely, we find it endowed 

 with so large a portion of sagacity and perfection as 

 induces the historian to rank it next to man. 



It is difficult to describe the exact size of these ani- 

 mals, as they have hecn seen from seven to fifteen 

 feet ; and no description can convey a just idea of 

 their magnitude, unless the creature itself has been 

 presented to the' sight. The forehead is very high 

 and rising ; the ears large, and hanging down ; the 

 eyes small, the back rather elevated, and the body ex- 

 tremely round and full, indented with various scars 

 and scratches, which it receives in its passage through 

 the woods : the feet are completely round at the bot- 

 tom, and on each there are five flat horny risings, 

 which appear to be the extremities of the toes : the 

 hide is only covered with a few scattered hairs ; but 

 there is a tuft a foot and a half long at the end of 

 the tail : the trunk, or proboscis, properly speaking, 

 is the snout, lengthened to a most singular extent; for, 

 in an elephant of fourteen feet high, it frequently mea- 

 sures eight in length, and five and a half in circum- 

 ference near the mouth, at which part it is much 

 thicker than any of the rest. This fleshy tube is com- 

 pletely hollow, and divided by a partition within side, 

 and is composed of such a variety of muscles and 

 nerves, as enables the creature to move it in any di- 

 rection it may please : through this trunk the elephant 

 breathes, drinks, and smells ; and, at the point of it, 

 just above the nostrils, there is an extension of the 

 skin about five inches in length, formed exactly like a 

 finger, and answering all the purposes for which it is 

 used : with it the animal can take up a pin, untie a knot, 

 unlock a door, and even write characters with a pen. 



Though the elephant is thus admirably supplied with 



