HUNTING THE ELEPHANT. 153 



In order tO' study the ways and habits of the wild animals the members of 

 the expedition often had to undergo the hardships of spending many sleepless 

 nights in the thicket. The numerous insects — ants, for instance — kept them 

 wide-awake, and though they were not always successful the insight into the 

 nightlife of many animals amply repaid them for their trouble. In the stillness 

 of the night, illumined by the bright tropical moonlight we heard the laugh- 

 ing cry of the long-tailed lemurs or they saw a herd of antelopes passing on 

 their way to the drinking place. Now they distinguished through an opening 

 in the jungle a huge mysterious apparition cautiously proceeding towards the 

 river. It is a full-grown rhinoceros. A few jackals are howling- in the distance 

 and the tropical birds in the tree-tops utter their peculiar laugh. Here a gray- 

 ish animal glides past the thicket quick as a lightning and the next moment 

 bull and lion roll on the ground in deadly embrace. Such were the nocturnal 

 scenes which mingled with the weird and strange voices of the wilderness 

 that met Colonel Roosevelt and his companions. 



The following facts relating to the elephant will be of interest : 



Everybody knows that the elephant is the largest of living animals, that 

 his tusks are ivory and that he has enormous strength. Many other things 

 the reader knows of this big beast, and yet this story is written for the pur- 

 pose of describing scenes and incidents, in which I took a prominent part, 

 new and novel to you. The years I lived in India and along the upper Nile 

 have made me familiar with the animal and have given me an opportunity 

 to study him in nature's domain. The elephant in captivity undergoes many 

 changes in disposition and act. 



The deep and w-idespread interest in the elephant, which surpasses that 

 accorded any other animal, is not misplaced, since the elephant is without 

 exception the most extraordinary of the brute creation. The name pachy- 

 derm is frequently used in describing the elephant, but it is no more applic- 

 able than would be a half dozen others. Pachyderm means thick-skinned, 

 and describes one quality of the animal, for the skin of the elephant is thicker 

 and tougher than that of any other of the animals with the exception of the 

 rhinoceros and the hippopotamus. 



Much has been written about the size attained by the elephant, but nothing 

 is positively known, for no animal in captivity will attain the growth it will 

 in its native state, and it is plain that there may be larger elephants still in the 

 forest and jungle than were ever killed by the European hunters. The fact 

 that tusks larger than those ever found by the white hunters are often 

 brought to the coast by the natives of Africa give evidence of this. 



