2S2 NATURAL HISTORY. 



children, did not like to be at rest in one position, woiild, as soon as left to itself, begin crawling about, 

 in which exercise it would probably get among the legs of the animal, or entangled in the branches of 

 the trees on which he was feeding, when the Elephant would in the most tender manner disengage his 

 charge, either by lifting it out of the way with his trunk, or by removing the impediments to its free 

 progress. If the child had crawled to such a distance as to verge upon the limits of his range (for the 

 animal was chained by the leg to a peg driven in the ground), he would stretch out his trunk and lift 

 it back as gently as possible to the spot whence it had started. 



Endless other stories are told of the sagacity of this noble animal, some of them, however, probably 

 not iingarnished with considerable exaggeration. However, this creature does undoubtedly possess a 

 most wonderful amount of intelligence, and it is believed that the Indian species, both in sagacity and 

 docility, surpasses the African. 



The White Elephants, held in reverence in Siam, and extremely rare, are not distinct from the 

 rest ; they are merely albinoes, or white varieties, and are to be viewed in the same light as white 

 Blackbirds or white Sparrows. 



THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT * is distinguished at once from the Indian species by the great size of its 

 ears, its larger eye, convex forehead, darker colour of its skin, and by possessing only three instead of 

 four nails or hoofs in the hind foot. It is indigenous to Africa, being found south of the Sahara as 

 far as Cape Colony, and from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. It formerly lived north of the Sahara, 

 and in the Pleistocene age of geologists was found in Europe, in Italy, and in Spain, to which points it 

 probably crossed at the time when the submerged barriers between Sicily and Africa, and Gibraltar 

 and Africa, were above the level of the water. 



Unlike the Indian species, both the males and the females are provided with tusks. The African 

 differs also considerably in his habits, for while the Indian enjoys coolness and shade, the African is 

 more or less exposed to the burning sun. 



According to Sir Samuel Baker, " in Africa the country being generally more open than in Ceylon, 

 the Elephant remains throughout the day either beneath a solitary tree, or exposed to the sun in the 

 vast prairies, where the thick grass attains a height of from nine to twelve feet. The general food of the 

 African Elephant consists of the foliage of trees, especially of mimosas. Many of the mimosas are 

 flat-headed, about thirty feet high, and the richer portion of the foliage confined to the crown. Thus, 

 the Elephant, not being able to reach to so great a height, must overturn the tree to procure the 

 coveted food. The destruction caused by a herd of Elephants in a mimosa forest is extraordinary, and I 

 have seen trees uprooted of so large a size that I am convinced no single Elephant could have over- 

 turned them. I have measured trees four feet six inches in circumference, and about thirty feet high, 

 uprooted by Elephants. The natives have assured me that they rmitually assist each other, and that 

 several engage together in the work of overturning a large tree. None of the mimosas have tap roots ; 

 thus the powerful tusks of the Elephants applied as crowbars at the roots, while others pull at the 

 branches with their trunks, will effect the destruction of a tree so large as to appear invulnerable." 



The following account by Gordon Gumming, which, on some points as to the habits and haunts of 

 the African Elephant does not agree with that of Sir Samuel Baker, may be explained by the different 

 nature of the country hunted by him : " The Elephant is widely diffused through the vast forests, and 

 is met with in herds of various numbers. The male is much larger than the female. He is provided 

 with two enormous tusks. These are long, tapering, and beautifully arched ; their length averages 

 from six to eight feet, and they weigh from sixty to a hundred pounds each. In the vicinity of the 

 Equator the Elephants attain to a larger size than to the southward ; and I am in possession of a pair 

 of tusks of the African bull Elephant, the larger of which measures ten feet nine inches in length, and 

 weighs one hundred and seventy-three pounds. 



" Old bull Elephants are found singly or in pairs, or consorting together in small herds, varying 

 from six to twenty individuals. The younger bulls remain for many years in the company of their 

 mothers, and these are met together in large herds of from twenty to a hundred individuals. The 

 food of the Elephant consists of the branches, leaves, and roots of the trees, and also of a variety of 

 bulbs, of the situation of which he is advised by his exquisite sense of smell. To obtain these he turns 

 up the ground with his tusks, and whole acres may be seen thus ploughed up. Elephants consume an 



* Elcphas africanus. 



