44 Wild Beasts 



sented by Elephas Indicus. Likewise, with the forest life, 

 browsing habits, and nocturnal ways of this species, 

 "there is little doubt that there is not an elephant ten 

 feet high at the shoulder in India," says Sanderson. If a 

 stranger took to elephant-hunting, his opinion of their 

 character in that country would probably depend upon the 

 escapes he made from being killed. There is, however, 

 something yet to be said upon the subject of Asiatic rogues 

 that, so far as the author is aware, has escaped the atten- 

 tion of those who have described them. Such creatures as 

 those of Kakankota, Balaghat, Jubbulpur, and the Begapore 

 canal, are extremely exceptional, if what they actually did 

 be alone considered, but there is nothing to show that 

 they were very extraordinary in temper or traits of char- 

 acter. The first seems to have been undoubtedly insane ; 

 the others, however, gave no indications of mental aliena- 

 tion. They were simply vicious like great numbers of 

 their kind, and the accidents of life enabled them to show 

 it more conspicuously than is often the case. Whatever 

 may be thought of the influence of descent in these in- 

 stances, it is certain that a criminal class cannot develop 

 itself among elephants, and that those murderous brutes 

 referred to, do not stand alone. 



Colonel Pollok ("Natural History Notes") gives a re- 

 port extracted from the records in the Adjutant General's 

 Office, that brings out several points relating to the char- 

 acter of vicious elephants. The statements made seem to 

 be incredible, but those who have made a study of the 

 subject will recall many examples of desperation, tenacity 

 of life, and ferocity in elephants, that may serve to modify 



