346 THE ELEPHANT. 



There is, perhaps, no other quadruped that will 

 not breed in its own native climates, if indulged 

 with a moderate share of freedom, and w r e know 

 that many of them will copulate in every climate. 

 The elephant alone has never been seen to breed, 

 and though he has been reduced under the obe- 

 dience of man for ages, the duration of pregnancy 

 in the female* still remains a secret. Aristotle, 

 indeed, asserts, that she goes two years with 

 young; that she continues to suckle her young 

 for three years, and that she brings forth but one 

 at a time ; but he does not inform us of the man- 

 ner in which it was possible for him to have his 

 information. From authorities equally doubtful 

 we learn, that the little one is about as large as a 

 wild boar the instant it is brought forth ; that its 

 tusks do not yet appear, but that all the rest of 

 its teeth are apparent; that at the age of six 

 months it is as large as an ox, and its tusks pretty 

 well grown ; and that it continues in this manner, 

 for near thirty years, advancing to maturity. All 

 this is doubtful ; but it is certain that, in order to 

 recruit the numbers which are consumed in war, 

 the princes of the East are every year obliged to 

 send into the forests, and to use various methods 

 to procure a fresh supply. Of all these numerous 

 bands, there is not one that has not been ori- 

 ginally wild, nor one that has not been forced 

 into a state of subjection. Men themselves are 



* Multis persuasum est clcpliantcrn non brutorum sed hominum more 

 coirc. Quod retro mingit non dubitatur. Sed ipse vidi marem hujusce 

 specici, in nostri regis stabulis, super fa mdlain itidem inclusam quadrupc- 

 dum more silientem, pene paululum incurvato sed sufficientcr recto. 



