THE ELEPHANT. 355 



Three horsemen, well mounted, and armed with 

 lances, attack the elephant alternately, each re- 

 lieving the other, as they see their companion 

 pressed, till the beast is subdued. Three Dutch- 

 men, brothers, who had made large fortunes by 

 this business, determined to retire to Europe, and 

 enjoy the fruits of their labours ; but they resolv- 

 ed, one day before they went, to have a last chase 

 by way of amusement : they met with their game, 

 and began their attack in the usual manner ; but 

 unfortunately, one of their horses falling, hap- 

 pened to fling his rider : the enraged elephant 

 instantly seized the unhappy huntsman with his 

 trunk, flung him up to a vast height in the air, 

 and received him upon one of his tusks as he fell ; 

 and then turning towards the other two brothers, 

 as if it were with an aspect of revenge and insult, 

 held out to them the impaled wretch, writhing in 

 the agonies of death. 



The teeth of the elephant are what produce 

 the great enmity between him and mankind ; but 

 whether they are shed like the horns of the deer, 

 or whether the animal be killed to obtain them, is 

 not yet perfectly known. All we have as yet 

 certain is, that the natives of Africa, from whence 

 almost all our ivory comes, assure us, that they 

 find the greatest part of it in their forests ; nor 

 would, say they, the teeth of an elephant recom- 

 pense them for their trouble and danger in killing 

 it. Notwithstanding, the elephants which are 

 tamed by man are never known to shed their 

 tusks ; and, from the hardness of their substance, 

 they seem no way analogous to deer's horns. 



