BOOK VIII.] History of Nature. 17 



In this Conflict they die together ; that which is overcome 

 falling down, and with his Weight crushing the one that is 

 twined about him. 



CHAPTER XII. 

 The Subtilty of Animals.* 



WONDERFUL is the Subtilty of Animals, each one ac- 

 cording to its own Kind ; and they have only this one Diff- 

 culty, that they must climb to so great an Height. The 

 Dragon, therefore, espying the Elephant going to its Food, 

 throweth itself on it from a high Tree ; this Creature, 

 knowing its Inability by struggling to withstand the other's 

 Windings about it, seeketh to crush its Enemy against the 

 Trees or Rocks. The Dragons guard against this by en- 

 tangling its Progress first with their Tail; the Elephants 

 undo those Knots with their Hand : but the Dragons put 

 their Heads into their Snout, and so shut out their Breath, 

 and tear the tenderest Parts. When these two chance to 

 encounter each other on the Way, the Dragons raise them- 

 selves against their Enemies, and aim chiefly at the Eyes, 

 whereby it happeneth that many Times they (the Ele- 

 phants) are found blind, and worn away with Hunger 

 and Grief. What other Reason should a Man allege of so 

 great a Variance between them, if it be not a Sport of Nature, 

 in matching these two, so equal in every respect ? But some 

 report this Contest in another Manner ; and that the Occa- 

 sion of it ariseth from the Elephant's Blood being exceed- 

 ingly Cold, on which Account chiefly the Dragons search it 

 out during the parching Season of the Year. And to the 

 same Purpose they lie under the Water in Rivers, watching 

 for the Elephants when they are drinking; when they catch 

 fast hold of their Hand (Trunk), and having clasped it, they 



1 This chapter offers a poor developement of a universal principle in 

 nature, by which the character of every animal is displayed in its re- 

 sources of pursuit and defence. For its exemplification in the habits of 

 British animals, the reader is referred to a work entitled " Illustrations 

 of Instinct, derived from the Habits of British Animals," by Jonathan 

 Couch, F.L.S. Wern. Club. 



VOL. III. C 



