278 THE WILDERNESS AND JUNGLE 



too late to domesticate the African elephant on 

 a considerable scale. It seems to be a matter 

 of argument whether the war elephants with 

 which Hannibal crossed the Alps were African 

 or Indian, but in all probability they were the 

 latter. Yet experiments have proved that, with 

 proper treatment, the African elephant is as 

 patient and docile as the Indian. The famous 

 " Jumbo " was quite as amenable to his keeper's 

 influence as the Indian elephants in the same 

 building, and in the French Congo baby 

 African elephants have been taught to draw 

 carts. Unfortunately the greed for ivory sealed 

 the fate of the grandest animal on earth. It is 

 useless to blame individual hunters. English, 

 Portuguese, Dutch, Belgian and negro, they 

 have all wallowed in the blood of elephants 

 for centuries, and the native alone had the 

 excuse of needing the meat to save himself 

 from starving. 



The case of the African elephant is worth a 

 little further consideration. I do not say that 

 the giant unites in its tremendous frame all the 

 virtues of the horse, ass, mule, and the rest. 

 It is slow in its movements, and it is very 

 expensive to feed. Yet, as we have daily 

 proof in India, it can do work that is beyond 

 any other animal. If it costs five times as 

 much as a horse for its day's keep, it carries 

 ten times the load. Nor, it must be re- 



