THE ELEPHANT. 335 



to cool that organ, or to divert themselves by 

 spurting it out like a fountain. They are equally 

 distressed by the extremes of heat and cold ; 

 and, to avoid the former, they frequently take 

 shelter in the most obscure recesses of the forest, 

 or often plunge into the water, and even swim 

 from the continent into islands some leagues dis- 

 tant from the shore. 



Their chief food is of the vegetable kind, for 

 they loathe all kind of animal diet. When one 

 among their number happens to light upon a spot 

 of good pasture, he calls the rest, and invites 

 them to share in the entertainment ; but it must 

 be a very copious pasture indeed that can supply 

 the necessities of the whole band. As with their 

 broad and heavy feet they sink deep wherever 

 they go, they destroy much more than they 

 devour; so that they are frequently obliged to 

 change their quarters, and to migrate from one 

 country to another. The Indians and Negroes, 

 who are often incommoded by such visitants, do 

 all they can to keep them away, making loud 

 noises, and large fires round their cultivated 

 grounds ; but these precautions do not always 

 succeed ; the elephants often break through their 

 fences, destroy their whole harvest, and overturn 

 their little habitations. When they have satis- 

 fied themselves, and trod down or devoured what- 

 ever lay in their way, they then retreat into the 

 woods in the same orderly manner in which they 

 made their irruption. 



Such are the habits of this animal, considered 

 in a social light ; and, if we regard it as an in- 



58 



