r 4 2 TAPIRS. 



The natives employ many methods of capturing Elephants, the pitfall being the most 

 deadly. Even this insidous snare is often rendered useless by the sagacity of the crafty 

 old leaders of the herds, who precede their little troops to the water, as they advance 

 by night to drink, and carefully beating the ground with their trunks as they proceed 

 unmask the pitfalls that have been dug in their course. They then tear away the 

 coverings of the pits, and render them harmless. These pitfalls are terrible affairs 

 when an animal gets into them, for a sharp stake is set perpendicularly at the bottom, 

 so that the poor Elephant is transfixed by its own weight, and dies miserably. Each 

 pit is about eight feet long by four in width. 



Whenever the Elephants approach the water at night, their advent may be at once 

 known by the commotion that arises among the various animals which have also con- 

 gregated around the pool for the purpose of slaking their thirst. " If the spring or 

 pool," says Mr. Anderson, in his valuable work, " Lake Ngami," " be of small ex- 

 tent, all the animals present will immediately retire from the water as soon as they are 

 aware of the presence of the Elephants, of whom they appear to have an instinctive 

 dread, and will remain at a respectful distance until the giants have quenched their 

 thirst. Thus, long before I have seen or even heard the Elephants, I have been 

 warned of their approach by the symptoms of uneasiness displayed by such animals 

 as happened to be drinking at the time. The giraffe, for instance, begins to sway his 

 long neck to and fro ; the zebra utters sudden and plaintive cries ; the gnoo glides 

 away with a noiseless step ; and even the ponderous and quarrelsome black rhino- 

 ceros, when he has time for reflection, will pull up short in his walk to listen : then 

 turning round, he listens again, and if he feels satisfied that his suspicions are correct, 

 he invariably makes off, giving vent to his fear or ire by one of his vicious and peculiar 

 snorts. Once, it is true, I saw a rhinoceros drinking together with a herd of seven 

 male Elephants ; but then he was of the white species, and, besides, I do not believe 

 that either party knew of each other's proximity." 



The ivory of the African Elephant is extremely valuable, and vast quantities are 

 imported annually into this country. The slaughter of an Elephant is therefore a 

 matter of congratulation to the white hunter, who knows that he can obtain a good 

 price for the tusks and teeth of the animal which he has slain. A pair of tusks 

 weighing about a hundred and fifty pounds will fetch nearly forty pounds when sold, 

 so that the produce of a successful chase is extremely valuable. One officer con- 

 trived to purchase every step in the army by the sale of the ivory which he had thus 

 obtained. On an average, each pair of tusks, taking the small with the great, will 

 weigh about one hundred and twenty pounds. 



There is an ingenious but a very cruel method of procuring ivory, which is employed 

 by the Somali. The hunter contrives to crawl towards the Elephant as it is reposing, and 

 with a single stroke of a very sharp sword nearly severs the principal tendon of the hind 

 leg. At the time, the animal thinks little of the wound, evidently supposing it to be 

 caused by the prick of a thorn. In order to rid himself of the supposed thorn, he stamps 

 violently on the ground, and flings out the wounded limb, until the damaged sinew parts, 

 and the Elephant is rendered incapable of locomotion. The hunters do not trouble them- 

 selves about the poor beast, knowing that he must soon die of hunger and thirst, as he 

 cannot stir from the spot on which he was wounded. After a sufficient time has elapsed 

 for putrefaction to have done its work, the hunters return to the spot, and easily draw the 

 tusks from the skull. The tail is cut off, and evermore exhibited as a trophy of victory. 



ONE of the links which unite the elephants to the swine and rhinoceros is to be 

 found in the genus Tapirus. The animals which belong to this genus are remarkable 

 for the prolonged upper lip, which is formed into a kind of small proboscis, and not 

 unlike that of the elephant, but upon a smaller scale, and devoid of the finger-like ap- 

 pendage at the extremity. Only two species are at present existing, but the fossil re- 

 mains of many other species have been discovered, which, by the peculiar length of 

 proboscis and general formation, seem to render the transition from the elephant to 

 the swine less abrupt. The body is heavy and powerful, the skin thick and almost 

 devoid of hair, and the tail is almost wanting. 



