52 Wild Beasts 



phants make use of a great variety of sounds in communi- 

 cating with one another, and in expressing their wants and 

 feelings." But he adds that, while " some are made by the 

 trunk and some by the throat, the conjunctures in which 

 either means of expression is employed, cannot be strictly 

 classified, as pleasure, fear, want, and other emotions are 

 indicated by either." Leveson, on the contrary, gives a 

 list of these intonations, and describes the manner in which 

 they are produced. So also does Tennant ; and Baker adds 

 another sound to those before given ; " a growl," this 

 writer calls it, and he says that "it is exactly like the 

 rumbling of distant thunder." 



Undoubtedly these animals express their thoughts and 

 feelings intelligibly by the voice, as also through facial 

 expressions, and by means of such gestures as they are 

 capable of making. It has been before said that although 

 the elephant's face is half covered up, and there are no 

 muscles either in his case or in that of any other animal, 

 whose primary function is to express mental or emotional 

 states, his physiognomy may be in the highest degree sig- 

 nificant. 



" The courage of elephants," writes Captain Drayson, 

 " seems to fluctuate in a greater degree than that of man. 

 Sometimes a herd is unapproachable from savageness ; 

 sometimes the animals are the greatest curs in creation." 

 What is called boldness varies considerably in different 

 species, among members of the same species, and in the 

 same individuals at different times. It is a quality, that, 

 like all others, is double-sided, certain elements belonging 

 to the mind, and the residue to the body. Elephants are 



