THE VAST. 



an enormous elephant in an African valley. "We 

 halted, and surveyed him for a few minutes in 

 silent admiration and astonishment. He was, in- 

 deed, a mighty and magnificent creature. The 

 two engineer officers, who were familiar with the 

 appearance of the elephant in his wild state, 

 agreed that the animal before us was at least 

 fourteen feet in height,'" Major Denham in his 

 expedition into Central Africa, met with some 

 which he guessed to be sixteen feet high ; but one 

 which he saw killed, and which he characterises 

 as "an immense fellow," measured twelve feet six 

 to the back.* Fossil remains of an elephant have 

 been discovered at Jubbalpore, which measure 

 ■fifteen feet to the shoulder. 



I need only advert to other colossal quadrupeds, 

 the seven or eight species of rhinoceros, the hip- 

 popotamus, the giraffe, the camel, the gaur, the 

 gayall, and other great wild oxen of India; the 

 urus, the bison, the Cape buffalo, the eland. Most 

 of these dwell in the poor and arid regions of 

 South Africa ; where the nakedness of the country 

 permits them to be seen to advantage. Dr. An- 

 drew Smith, in one day's march with the bullock- 

 waggons saw, without wandering to any great 

 distance on either side, between one hundred and 

 one hundred and fifty rhinoceroses, which be- 

 longed to three species; the same day he saw 

 several herds of giraffes, amounting together to 

 nearly a hundred ; and, though no elephants were 

 observed, yet they are found in this district. At 

 the distance of little more than an hour's march 

 from their place of encampment on the previous 



* Sir E. Tennent ("Ceylon," ii. p. 291), quoting this account, 

 says " nine feet six inches ; " but this is a mis-reading. It was 

 Dine feet six inches to the hip-bone ; and three feet more to the 

 back. 



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