.h.ciu. 



CHAPTER XL. 



THE ELEPHANT. 



liove of Solitude and Pusillanimity— Miraculous Escape of an English Officer — 

 .'^agaeity of the Elephant in ascending Hills — Organisation of the Stomach — 

 The Elephant's Trunk — Use of its Tusks still Problematical — The Eogue- 

 Elephant — Sagacity of the Elephant — The African Elephant — Tamed in 

 Ancient Times — South African Elephant-Hunting — Hair-breadth Escapes — 

 Abyssinian Elephant-Hunters — Importance of the Ivory Trade — The Asiatic 

 Elephant — Vast Numbers destroyed in Ceylon — Major Rogers — Elephant 

 Catchers — Their amazing Dexterity — The Corral — Decoy Elephants — Their 

 astonishing Sagacity — Great Mortality among the captured Elephants — Their 

 Services. 



OF a mild and peaceful disposition, the image of strength 

 tempered by good nature, the Elephant loves the shady 

 forest and the secluded lake. Disliking the glare of the midday 

 sun, he spends the day in the thickest woods, devoting the night 

 to excursions and to the luxury of the bath, his great and inno- 

 cent delight. Though the earth trembles under his strides, 

 yet like the whale, he is timid ; but this timidity is accounted 

 for by his small range of vision. Anything unusual strikes him 

 with terror, and the most trivial objects and incidents, from 

 being imperfectly discerned, excite his suspicions. To this 

 peculiarity an English officer, chased and seized by an elephant 



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