458 HlSTORV OF 



band, yet the first sight of this huge creature never fails to strike 

 us with astonishment, and in some measure to exceed our idea. 

 Having been used to smaller animals, we have scarcely any con- 

 ception of its magnitude -, for a moving column of iiesb, fourteen 

 feet high, is an object so utterly diiferent from those we are con- 

 stantly presented with, that to be conceived it must be actually 

 seen. Such, I own, were the suggestions that naturally arose to 

 me when I first saw this animal, and yet for the sight of which 

 I had taken care to prepare my imagination, I found my ideas 

 fall as short of its real size as they did of its real figm-e ; neither 

 the pictures I had seen, nor the descriplions I had read, giving 

 me adequate conceptions of either. 



It would, therefore, be impossible to give an idea of this ani- 

 mal's figure by a description ; which, even assisted by the art of 

 the engraver, will but confusedly represent the original. In 

 general, it may be observed, that the forehead is very high and 

 rising, the ears very large and dependent, the eyes extremely 

 small, the proboscis or trunk long, the body round and full, the 

 batk rising in an arch, and the whole animal short in proportion 

 to its height. The feet are round at the bottom ; on each foot 

 there are five flat hoi'ny risings, which seem to be the extremities 

 of the toes, but do not appear outwardly. The hide is without 

 hair, full of scratches and scars, which it receives in its passage 

 through thick woods and thorny places. At the end of the tail 

 there is a tuft of hair, a foot and a half long. The female 

 is less than the male, and the udder is between the fore- 

 legs. But a more accurate, as well as a more entertaining de- 

 scription of the parts, will naturally occur in the history of their 

 uses. * 



* There are two species of elephant — the Asiatic and African. The Asiatic 

 Elephant is distinguislied from its African coujfener, principally by the 

 character of the teeth ; the head moreover is oblong, the forehead concave, 

 and the ears do not descend lower than the neck. This species is foiuid 

 in the whole of .Southern India, and in the neighbouring islands. Though 

 80 extensively employed by man, it can hmdly be considered a domestic 

 animal, as it is not bred in captivity ; but when a fresh supply is wanted 

 for general purposes, they are hiuited or rather sought for in their seque.s. 

 tered retreat, and after being captured, are quickly reduced to servitude. 

 Taking and taming wild elephants is an affair of great moment in India, a do 

 Bcription of which, however amusing, we feel constrained to forego. 



A strong ele})hant can carry 2000 pounds weight, and can travel without 

 difiBculty fifty miles in a day ; in long marches, however, they become very 

 tender-foottd, as may be seen by their gait, and by their feeling' with tlw 



