50 OBSERVATIONS ON QUADRUPEDS. 



the ground in a certain order : first he raises the off 

 fore, then the near hind, then the near fore, and lastly 

 the off hind. The appearance," as is well known, is 

 that of the two legs which are diagonally opposite 

 being raised nearly simultaneously; but the two on 

 the same side following one another at a moderate 

 interval, the hind one advancing first. The elephant, 

 as many observers have noticed, appears, in walking, 

 to move the two legs on the same side at the same 

 time ; and it has occasionally been thought that the 

 order in which the legs are raised from the ground is 

 different from that in the horse. But, upon close 

 watching, it will be seen that this order is in all 

 cases the same; the only difference consisting in 

 the length of the intervals between taking the feet 

 successively up. In the elephant, the interval be- 

 tween raising each hind-foot and the fore imme- 

 diately in advance of it is very short, and it be- 

 comes relatively shorter as the pace increases. 

 When the animal walks very slowly, the legs ap- 

 pear to move just as in the horse ; the interval in 

 the two cases being the same. The same may be 

 observed in the rhinoceros, though I have had no 

 opportunity of noticing this animal moving fast, so 

 as to say whether it then resembles the elephant 

 in the appearance of the legs or not. The giraffe, 

 whether it walks fast or leisurely, appears to move 

 the two legs on the same side together, as in the 

 elephant. It is observable, that both the giraffe 

 and the elephant have short bodies (the former 

 especially) in respect of their height and length of leg. 

 "Whether this has anything to do in lessening the 



