"EOGUE ELEPHANTS 453 



round him, and in a moment quitted the boat, swimming away 

 as hard as they could with their unfortunate commander, whom 

 they actually bore up with their tusks, and assiduously preserved 

 from sinking." * 



When individuals have been expelled from a herd, or by some 

 accident or other have lost their former associates, they are not 

 permitted to attach themselves to any other family, and ever 

 after wander about the woods as outcasts from their kind. 

 Kendered morose and savage from rage and solitude, these 

 rogue elephants become vicious and predatory ; and so sullen is 

 their disposition, that although two may be in the same 

 vicinity, there is no known instance of their associating, or of a 

 rogue being seen in company with another elephant. 



These savage solitaires not only commit great injuries in the 

 plantations, trampling down the rice-grounds, and tearing up 

 the trees, but even travellers are exposed to the utmost risk 

 from their unprovoked assaults. Sir J. E. Tennent mentions a 

 " rogue," who in 1847 infested for some months the Eangbodde 

 Pass on the great mountain road leading to the sanatarium 

 at Neuera Ellia. He concealed himself by day in the dense 

 forests on either side of the road, making his way during the 

 darkness to the river below. One morning a poor Caffre pioneer 

 proceeding to his labour came suddenly upon him at a turning 

 in the road, when the spleenish savage, resenting the intru- 

 sion, lifted him with his trunk and beat out his brains against 

 the bank. 



Among other animals that have been driven from the society 

 of their kind, we find a similar ferocity of disposition. The 

 solitary males of the wild buffalo, when expelled from the herd 

 by stronger competitors for female favour, are apt to wreak their 

 vengeance on whatever they meet; the outcast hippopotamus 

 wantonly strikes the passing canoes ; and the rogue sperm whale, 

 without waiting for the attack, rushes furiously against the boats 

 sent out against him, and seems to love fighting for its own 

 sake.f 



Thus, however soul-improving solitude may prove to the 

 hermit saint, there can be no doubt that it is far from conducing 

 to the amiability of animals ; and judging from these facts, we 



* The Sea and its Living Wonders Second Edition, Page 108. 

 t Ibid. Page 90. 



