250 THE GAME OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 



from memory, I should certainly say that the tunnel is nothing like thirteen feet in height — the 

 approximate height of a big African bull elephant's head or back above the ground. 



A rough-and-ready calculation of the height of the head of a big bull, or, perhaps, the height 

 of its back {{.e., at the edge of the small, flat plateau which is found on either side of the spine), can 

 often be made by observing trees against which an elephant has been standing and rubbing himself. 

 If he has just been having a mud bath, the line of the highest part of his back touching the tree 

 (this is lower than his spine) can often be seen clearly marked on the trunk. Below the line is 

 solid mud ; above, only a few splashes. Often, when following a solitary bull, I have, on passing 

 such a tree, stood underneath and reached up to the spot with a spear and just touched it (the 

 spear being my own height in length). I have also measured by eye, roughly, twice my own 

 height on the tree, i.e., I have made a mark at the height of my eye — nearly six feet — and then 

 stepped back to see if it was half the height of the high mud mark, or less than that. By such 

 rough-and-ready methods I have often come to the conclusion that the highest part of a very big 

 elephant was about thirteen feet or a trifle under. 



Judging by eye, I should think that there was no comparison between an African bull elephant 

 and an Indian bull elephant, the latter appearing as small as, or smaller than, an African cow. 



I can trace no relationship between the height of an elephant and the weight of its tusks, 

 nor between the size of its foot and its height. A distinct relationship, however, appears 

 to exist between the size of the foot and the weight of the tusks, and I am inclined to think 

 that the tusk and the foot continue growing long after the animal has reached its maximum 

 height. 



Weight — Jumbo was said to weigh about four tons. Small menagerie Indian elephants 

 weigh, I believe, about two to two and a half tons. Taking a large performing elephant, the 

 height would probably be about eight feet, and the weight two and a half tons. An African 

 bull is half as high again, and so its weight should be about double. I should think five tons 

 would not be an excessive estimate for an elephant of eleven feet four inches. 



Reading the Weight of Ivory. — The weight of tusks largely depends on the amount of 

 hollow inside them, and as this cannot be ascertained until after they have been cut out, the 

 estimate of weight from outside measurement can only be approximate. However, if the 

 animal is an old one the hollows will be small ; if a young one, they will be large. Again, the 

 amount of curve in the tusk affects the reading. Straight tusks look longer than curved, but 

 in the same lengths of straight tusks and curved tusks the straight will weigh the heavier, 

 provided the girth is the same and the hollows are of equal size. 



Tracking. — There are a few points in tracking which I have not mentioned elsewhere. 



During the early hours of the morning just before dawn, and for a few hours afterwards, 

 elephants leave few droppings and sometimes none at all. Early morning spoor of a herd 

 may often be recognised from this fact. In the daytime numbers of flies settle on the droppings 

 of elephants immediately they are deposited, then if a cloud of flies rises with a loud buzz as you 

 pass, it shows the spoor is absolutely fresh, within a few minutes. If there are only a few flies 

 the spoor is perhaps half an hour old. Notice should be taken of the number of beetles there 

 are about which make it their duty to remove the droppings. If these are very numerous, 

 and if they arrive quickly on the scene, they will break up a dropping in the course of an hour, 

 when a powerful sun shining on the remains for from four to six hours will completely dry 

 thern up and make them look like droppings of the day previous. Their real age can, 

 however, be ascertained by kicking the dried part off the top and looking underneath. If the 



