176 VERTEBRATA. MAMMALIA. 



and thrust one of its tusks through his thigh ; then 

 lifting him up with its trunk, dashed him about 

 with the greatest violence, and trampling upon him, 

 finished the work of destruction. When the mangled 

 body was discovered, it presented the most appalling 

 spectacle."* 



Mr. Pringle gives us the following interesting par- 

 ticulars : " After mid -day, we came upon the recent 

 traces of a troop of Elephants. Their huge foot- 

 prints were everywhere visible ; and in the swampy 

 spots, on the banks of the river, it was evident that 

 some of them had been luxuriously enjoying them- 

 selves, by rolling their unwieldy bulks in the ooze 

 and mud. But it was in the groves and jungles that 

 they had left the most striking proofs of their re- 

 cent presence and peculiar habits. In many places, 

 paths had been trodden through the midst of dense 

 thorny forests, otherwise impenetrable. They ap- 

 peared to have opened up these paths with great 

 judgment, always taking the best and shortest cut 

 to the next open savannah, or ford of the river : 

 and in this way their labours were of the greatest 

 use to us by pioneering our route through a most 

 intricate country, never yet traversed by a wheel 

 carriage, and great part of it, indeed, not easily ac- 

 cessible, even on horseback. In such places the 

 great bull Elephant always marches in the van, burst- 

 ing through the jungle, as a bullock would through 

 a field of hops, treading down the brushwood, and 

 breaking off with his proboscis the larger branches 



* Wanderings in South Africa, p. 74. 



