ELEPHANTS. 



549 



Habits. 



certain seasons of the year to an elevation of nine thousand or ten thousand feet 

 among the damp forests clothing the sides of the mountain ; while they are found 

 at heights of from seven thousand to eight thousand feet above the sea-level in 

 the Abyssinian highlands. 



All observers seem to agree that the African elephant is a more 

 powerful and more active animal than its Asiatic cousin, displaying 

 marvellous capacities for getting over precipitous and rocky ground, and being 

 altogether more rapid in its movements. Moreover, most writers consider its 

 disposition is decidedly fiercer than that of the other species. 



Although there is probably some local difference in this respect, the African 

 elephant, according to Sir Samuel Baker, is far less intolerant of intense solar 

 heat than the Indian species ; and in the Sudan these animals may frequently be 

 observed "enjoying themselves in the burning sun in the hottest hours of the day. 

 among plains of withered grass, many miles from a jungle." 



The difference in the structure of their molar teeth would of itself be an 

 indication of a marked distinction in the diet of the two species ; and from what 

 we know in the analogous instance of the two African species of rhinoceros it 

 would be inferred that the nutriment of the African elephant is composed of 

 coarser and harder substances than those eaten by the Indian species. This 

 inference appears to be supported by the results of observation. Thus, in parts of 

 South Africa, Livingstone states that great numbers of trees may be seen " broken 

 oft" by elephants a foot or two from the ground, in order that they may feed on 

 the tender shoots at the tops ; the trees thus seem pollarded from that point. In 

 spite of this practice, the elephant never seriously lessens the number of trees ; 

 indeed, I have often been struck by the very little damage he does in a forest. 

 His food consists for the most part of bulbs, tubers, roots, and branches ; the 

 natives in the interior believe that he never touches grass ; and the only instance 

 I saw of his having grazed was near Teti, when the grass was in seed, and when 

 he might have been attracted by the farinaceous matter, which exists in such 

 quantities in the seed that the natives collect it for their own food." In another 

 passage the great explorer states that the African elephant "is a most dainty 

 feeder, and particularly fond of certain sweet-tasted trees and fruits, such as the 

 mohonono [a tree said to resemble the cedar in appearance], the mimosa, and 

 others, which contain much saccharine matter, mucilage, and gum. He may be 

 seen putting his head to a lofty palmyra, and sw T aying it to and fro to shake off 

 the seeds ; he then picks them up singly and eats them. Or he may be seen 

 standing by the masuka and other fruit-trees, patiently picking off the sweet 

 fruits one by one. The selection of these kinds of food accounts for the fact that 

 lien Is of elephants produce but small effect on the vegetation of a country — quality 

 being more requisite to them than quantity." 



From his experience in the Sudan, Sir Samuel Baker observes that "the 

 African elephant is a more decided tree-feeder than the Indian, and the destruction 

 Committed by a large herd of such animals when feeding in a mimosa-forest is 

 extraordinary ; they deliberately march forward, and uproot or break down every 

 tiif that excites their appetite. The mimosas are generally from 16 to 20 feet 

 high, and, having no tap-root, they are easily overturned by the tusks of the 



