CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 51 



Ceylon, which, while possessing many large 

 animals in common with the mainland, has no 

 tiger, no rhinoceros and no brown bear. 



The immense numbers of wild animals in 

 India survive even the slaughter encouraged by 

 Government for the purpose of saving human 

 life in the jungle. Even with such precautions, 

 the death-rate of natives killed by wild animals 

 is terrible, and in 1910 alone no fewer than 2400 

 are officially recorded as having perished in this 

 way. People in India declare that many of 

 these so-called deaths from wild beasts are the 

 work of poisoners, but we must remember the 

 great difficulty of getting reliable evidence, 

 even on oath, in communities that do not set a 

 very high value on truth ; and wild beasts may 

 occasionally furnish a convenient explanation 

 of tragedies wrapped in mystery. In the same 

 year, it may be mentioned, the death-roll among 

 wild beasts in the official records included 1421 

 tigers, 5029 leopards, 2292 bears, and over 

 90,000 deadly snakes. With an annual 

 slaughter on such a scale, it seems surpris- 

 ing that there should be any wild animals 

 left in India at all. 



THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 



The elephant is the greatest of Indian 

 animals. Clever people, who like a little 

 Latin with their natural history, call it maxi- 



