HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 195 



their trunk, the teats of the female being situated 

 between her fore legs.* 



The Elephant is thirty years in arriving at its full 

 growth ; and is said to live, though in a state of cap- 

 tivity, to the age of an hundred and twenty or an 

 hundred and thirty years : in a state of unrestrained 

 freedom, it is supposed to live much longer. 



The Elephant will drink wine, and is fond of 

 spiritous liquors. By shewing him a vessel filled 

 with iirrack, he is induced to exert the greatest 

 eiforts, and perform the most painful tasks, in hopes 

 of receiving it as the reward of his labour. To dis- 

 appoint him is dangerous, as he seldom fails to be 

 revenged. The following instance is given as a 

 fact, and deserves to be recorded : An Elephant, 

 disappointed of his reward, out of revenge killed his 

 cornac or governor. The poor man's wife, who 

 beheld the dreadful scene, took her two infants, and 

 threw them at the feet of the enraged animal, say- 

 ing, " Since you have slain my husband, take my 

 life also, as well as that of my children." The 

 Elephant instantly stopped, relented, and, as if 

 stung with remorse, took the eldest boy in its 

 trunk, placed him on its neck, adopted him for its 

 cornac, and would never allow any other person to 

 mount it. 



We might quote many other facts equally curious 

 and interesting : those we have already recited are 

 sufficient to shew that the Elephant is possessed of 

 instinctive faculties superior to those of any other 

 animal. We must at the same time admire the 



* The nipples of the Elephant are near the breast, and the old one 

 is forced to suck herself, and by the help of her trunk conveys the 

 milk into the mouth of her young. See Philosophical Transactions, 

 No. 336. 



