ANIMALS. 



4o7 



clumsy instiiiments perform the most astonishing feats ot dex- 

 terity. We may, therefore, conclude that it is the mind alone that 

 gives a master to the creation ; and that, if a hear or a horse 

 were endowed with the same intellects that have been Riven to 

 man, the hardness of a hoof, or the awkwardness of a pav.-, 

 would he no obstacle to their advancement in the arts ol do- 

 minion, or of social felicity. 



CHAP. II. 



OF TJIE ELEPHANT. 



Having gone through the description of those quadrupeds 

 that, by resembling each other in some striking particular, admit 

 of being grouped together, and considered under one point of 

 ■.•lew, we now come to those insulated sorts that bear no simili- 

 tude with the rest, and that to be distinctly described must be 

 separately considered. 



The foremost of these, and in every respect the noblest quad- 

 ruped in nature, is the Elephant, not less remarkable for its size 

 than its docility and understanding. All historiaiis concur in 

 giving it the character of the most sagacious animal next to man; 

 and yet, were we to take our idea of its capacity from its out- 

 ward appearance, we should be led to conceive very meanly of 

 its abilities. The elephant, at fust view, presents the spectatoi 

 with an enormous mass of flesh that seems scarcely animated. 

 Its huge body covered with a callous hide, without hair ; its large 

 mis-shapen legs, that seem scarcely formed for motion ; its little 

 «yes, large ears, and long trunk ; all give it an air of extreme 

 stupidity. But our prejudices will soon subside when we come 

 to examine its history ; they will even serve to increase our sur- 

 prise, when we consider the various advantages it derives from 

 so clumsy a conformation. 



The elephant is seen from seven to no less than fifteen feet 

 high.* Whatever care we take to imagine a lai-ge animal before- 



* Elepliants very rarely exceed ten feet in lieiglit. Seven feet and up- 

 wards is the East India Company's standard for serviceable elephants, mea- 

 snred at the shoulder, as horses are. A hu'ge eU'pliant weiyhs from six !<t 

 MVen thousand pounds. 



IJ. 2 Q 



