SIZE OF MODERN ELEPHANTS 123 



But now let us first of all note some of the peculiarities 

 of living elephants and the points by which the two kinds 

 differ from one another. The most striking fact about 

 the elephant is its enormous size. It is only exceeded 

 among living animals by whales ; it is far larger than the 

 biggest bull, or rhinoceros, or hippopotamus. A fair-sized 

 Indian elephant weighs two to three tons (Jumbo, one of 

 the African species, weighed five), and requires as food 60 Ib. 

 of oats, I i truss of hay, I truss of corn a day, costing 

 together in this country about 5 s. ; whereas a large cart-horse 

 weighs i 5 cwt, and requires weekly three trusses of hay and 

 80 Ib. of oats, costing together I 2s., or about is. %\d. a day. 

 It is this which has proved fatal to the elephant since man 

 took charge of the world. The elephant requires so much 

 food and takes so many years in growing up (twenty or 

 more before he his old enough to be put to work), that it 

 is only in countries where there is a superabundance of 

 forest in which he can be allowed to grow to maturity at 

 his own " charges " (so to speak) that it is worth while to 

 attempt to domesticate and make use of him. For most 

 purposes three horses are more " handy" than one elephant. 

 The elephant is caught when he is already grown up, and 

 then trained. It is as a matter of economy that he is not 

 bred in confinement, and not because there is any insuper- 

 able difficulty in the matter. Occasionally elephants have 

 bred in menageries. 



There is no doubt that the African elephant at the 

 present day grows to a larger size than the Indian, though 

 it was the opinion of the Romans of the Empire that the 

 Indian elephant was the more powerful, courageous, and 

 intelligent of the two. It seems next to impossible to 

 acquire at the present day either specimens or trustworthy 

 records of the largest Indian elephants. About I oft 6 in. 

 at the shoulder seems to be the maximum, though they 

 are dressed up by their native owners with platforms and 



