182 



ELEPHAKTIDJE. MAMMALIA. ELEPHAXTID.E. 



of the intestine. The mammae are two in number, 

 situated beneath the anterior part of the chest. Ele- 

 phants herd together in considerable numbers, subsist- 

 ing entirely on vegetable matters. 



THE INDIAN ELEPHANT (ElepJias Indicus) 

 see Frontispiece is a native of the peninsula from 

 whence it derives its specific name ; and also of Cey- 

 lon, Sumatra, and Borneo. From the earliest times 

 it has been employed as a beast of burden ; and in 

 European menageries it has ever formed one of the 

 most attractive objects of amusement to natural history 

 loving people. It is distinguished from the African 

 species by its oblong head, which is concave anteriorly; 

 by the character of the enameled ridges on the crown 

 of the molar teeth already described ; by the compara- 

 tive smallness of the ears ; by the very short tusks of 

 the female ; by the paler colour of the hide ; and by 

 the circumstance of its having four nails on the hinder 

 feet. It is not our intention to dwell at any length 

 upon the habits of the elephant in a tame or semi- 

 domesticated state, otherwise we should be led to 

 record numerous anecdotes in which the sagacity of 

 this animal has been very unduly exaggerated and 

 embellished with erroneous statements. The follow- 

 ing particulars, however, will be found interesting : 

 "Elephants," says Captain Williamson, "have a great 

 dislike to camels, though they will travel with them, 

 when laden, without showing it much. Nothing dis- 

 tresses this majestic animal more than being closely 

 followed by a horse, especially at a canter or other 

 quick pace. Probably the clattering of his hoofs 

 creates alarm. An elephant cannot bear the approach 

 of dogs, or other small quadrupeds; and if, in pro- 

 ceeding through a grass jungle, game should start near 

 him, he will frequently evince great uneasiness. In 

 heavy covers elephants are of infinite service, their 

 bulk, and the noise occasioned by their movements, 

 often rousing game which would else remain secreted, 

 and their height giving a commanding view to their 

 riders." Elephants have likewise a particular hatred 

 of the rhinoceros, and can scarcely be induced to 

 approach within sight or smell, even though the animal 

 be dead. Then* disposition is extremely capricious in 

 the tame state, and their mode of resenting real or 

 fancied insults is often attended with terrible destruc- 

 tion to life and property. Instances of this are too 

 well known to need illustration. For the capturing of 

 elephants in the wild state, various methods are adopted 

 in different parts of India. The most usual mode is 

 by driving them into a kedddh, or large inclosure 

 surrounded by a deep trench and external paling, 

 strongly built, and propped from without by large 

 wooden beams. Several thousand natives are em- 

 ployed in frightening and driving them into this decoy ; 

 but the operation is usually attended with much diffi- 

 culty. When once secured within the area, then* 

 subsequent submission and domestication is only a 

 work of time. Another mode of taking them is by 

 means of koomkies or decoy elephants; these are 

 females taught to simulate wanton wiles; and being 

 conducted by their drivers to the saun, or isolated male, 

 which they propose to take, the unsuspecting beast is 

 secured by the mahouts whilst engaged in the all- 



absorbing pleasures of courtship and fancied secrecy. 

 Ropes being passed round his legs, and the hind pair 

 having been fastened to a tree, the drivers now steal 

 from beneath his body, and the koomkies leave the 

 beast to his fate. On detecting the snare, he becomes 

 perfectly furious, destroying whatever may be in his 

 way, "tearing up the tufts of grass by the roots, 

 rending from the tree such branches as may be within 

 his reach, and eventually straining to throw down the 

 tree itself by his weight, or to pull it up with his trunk. 

 In short, his whole powers are in action on this occa- 

 sion; and it is not until being completely overcome 

 with fatigue, and nearly dead from his natural thirst, 

 which is greatly augmented by constant roarings, that 

 he subsides into a sort of tranquillity." In a day or two 

 he takes food from the mahouts who constantly visit 

 him ; and at length he permits himself to be conducted 

 to the home of the successful proprietor. A third 

 mode of capturing the elephant is by means of the 

 phaun or slip knot. This consists of a stout rope, ten 

 or twelve yards long, and at least an inch in thickness, 

 with a sliding noose at the free extremity. A single 

 small-sized elephant being selected out of a herd, a 

 skilful mahout, mounted on a tame elephant, gives 

 chase ; and throwing the loop over the animal's head, 

 he soon moderates or checks its progress by tightening 

 the cord. The breathing becoming straightened, the 

 driver is not long in acquiring entire control over his 

 captive, which is ultimately conducted to a place of 

 security. A fourth plan consists in digging pits ; but 

 this method is highly objectionable, as the animal 

 sometimes sustains irremediable injury. Before con- 

 cluding we may remark that the Indian elephant rarely 

 exceeds nine feet in height ; the average stature being 

 about eight feet at the shoulder. The tallest specimen 

 ever known in Bengal measured, it is said, nearly twelve 

 feet, and was proportionately bulky. Mr. John Corse, 

 however, who kept a large establishment for the rearing 

 of elephants at Tipperah, has stated, in a memoir com- 

 municated to the Royal Society in 1799, that the largest 

 species he ever heard of did not exceed ten feet six 

 inches. The same authority states that the period of 

 gestation in the female, extends over a space of twenty- 

 two months; only one young being produced at each 

 birth. 



THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT (Elephas Africanus] 

 occupies an extensive range in the interior plains and 

 forests of the continent from whence it derives its speci- 

 fic titie. As already hinted, it is at once distinguished 

 from the Asiatic species by the remarkable size and 

 expanse of the ears, by the presence of well-developed 

 tusks in the female, by the darker aspect of the skin, 

 by the lozenge-shaped ridges of enamel on the crowns 

 of the molar teeth, and by the presence of only three 

 nails on the hinder feet. The male attains a height of 

 twelve feet at the shoulder, and is on an average taller 

 than its Indian congener ; its tusks are much larger, 

 measuring between eight and nine feet in length, and 

 weighing upwards of a hundred pounds, those of the 

 female being four feet long. The weight of ivory of 

 various kinds annually brought over to this country is 

 said to amount to four hundred and sixty-eight tons, 

 which is equivalent to a sum of about 300,000 sterling; 



