THE ELEPHANT. 21 



Edgar King of England is said to be the first who 

 attempted to rid his kingdom of such disagreeable inmates, 

 by changing the punishment for certain crimes, into the 

 acceptance of a number of wolfs tongues from each 

 criminal. They are said to have infested Ireland long 

 after they were extirpated in England ; and great care was 

 bestowed in training up a very large breed of dogs, called 

 the Irish wolf-dog, for the purpose of hunting them down. 

 Wolves existed in the great woods of Shillela, until about 

 the year 1700, when the last of them was destroyed 

 in the neighbourhood of Glendalochj however, the oldest 

 men in the country remember nothing of these animals ; 

 and it is probable that there have been none here for more 

 than a century past. Scotland also is totally free from 

 them. 



Scarcely any thing belonging to the wolf is good, except 

 his skin. Of this, the furriers make a covering that is 

 warm and durable, though coarse and unsightly. His flesh 

 is very indifferent and seems to be disliked by all other 

 animals, no other creature being known to eat the wolfs 

 flesh except the wolf himself. He breathes a most foetid 

 vapour from his jaws, as his food is indiscriminate, often 

 putrid, and seldom cleanly. In short, every way offensive, 

 a savage aspect, a frightful howl, an insupportable odour, 

 a perverse disposition, fierce habits, he is hateful while 

 living, and useless when dead. 



THE ELEPHANT. 



Of all the creatures that have hitherto been taken into 

 the service of man, the Elephant is pre-eminent in the size 

 and strength of his body, and inferior to none in sagacity 

 and obedience. 



All historians agree, that next to man the Elephant is 

 the most sagacious of all animals ; yet were we to judge 

 from its external appearance only, we should form no very 

 high opinion of its faculties. Its large body, covered with 

 a callous hide, destitute of hair ; its large unshapen legs, 

 which scarcely seem formed for motion ; its small eyes, its 

 large pendulous ears, and its long trunk, all conspire to 

 give it an air of more than common stupidity ; but, when 

 we advert to its well-known qualities, our misconcep- 

 tions are rectified j when we contemplate the various 



