300 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



ing the wood, he received a violent blow from a branch of 

 a tree which the elephant had bent by his weight, and, 

 after palling, allowed it to replace itfelf, when it knocked 

 down both the riders, and very much hurt the horfe. This, 

 indeed, is the great danger in elephant-hunting; for fome 

 of the trees, that are dry and fliort, break, by the violent 

 preflure of ib immenfe a body moving fo rapidly, and fall 

 upon the purfuers, or acrofs the roads. But the greateil 

 number of thefc trees, being of a fucculent quality, they 

 bend without breaking, and return quickly to their former 

 pofition, when they ftnke both horfe and man fo violently, 

 that they often beat them to pieces, and fcatter them upon 

 the plain. Dextrous, too, as the riders are, the elephant 

 fomecimes reaches them with his trunk, with which he 

 dafhes the horfe againft the ground, and then fets his feet 

 upon him, till he tears him limb from limb with his pro- 

 bofcis ; a great many hunters die this way. Befides this, 

 the foil, at this time of the year, is fplit into deep chafms,. 

 or cavities, by the heat of the fun, fo that nothing can be 

 more dangerous than the riding. 



The elephant once llain, they cut the whole ilclh off his 

 bones into thongs, like the reins of a bridle, and hang thefe, 

 like feftoons, upon the branches of trees, till they become 

 perfedly dry, without fait, and they then lay them by for 

 their provilion in the feafon of the rains. 



I NEED fay nothing of the figure of the elephant, his form 

 is known, and anecdotes of his life and character are to be 

 found everywhere. But his defcription, at length, is given, 

 with his ufual accuracy and elegance, by that great mailer 

 of natural hiftory the Count de Buflbn, my molt venerable, 



learned^ 



