3$ THE ELEPHANT. 



fouth of India and the Eaft of Africa, are the 

 countries moft congenial to the nature of the 

 elephant. He is there much larger and ftror.g- 

 er than in Guiney, or any other weftern region 

 of Africa. He dreads excefTive heat, and never 

 inhabits the burning fands of the defert. Nei- 

 ther is the fpecies fo numerous in the country of 

 the Negroes, as along the rivers ; and they are 

 never found in the mountainous parts of Afri- 

 ca. But, in India, the ftrongeft and moft coura- 

 geous of the fpecies, and which have the largeft 

 tufks, are called Mountain Elephants : They in- 

 habit the elevated parts of the country, where, 

 the air being more temperate, the waters lefs 

 impure, and the food more wholefome, thev ac- 

 quire all the perfections of which their nature 

 is capable. 



In general, the elephants of Afia exceed, in 

 fize, ftrength, &c. thole of Africa ; and thofe 

 of Ceylon, in particular, arefuperior to all thofe 

 of Alia, not only in magnitude, hut in courage 

 and intelligence. Thefe qualities they perhaps 

 derive from a more perfett education. Howe- 

 ver this may be, all travellers have celebrated 

 the elephants of this iiland *, where the furface 



of 



* The elephants of Ceylon arc preferred to all others, be- 

 caufethey have moft courage. . . . The Indiansfay, that all 

 the other elephants refpecT: thofe of Ceylon ; Relation d'un voyage 

 par Thevenot, p. 261. — The elephants of Ceylon are the boldefl 



of the fpecies ; Voyage de Beniier, torn, 2. p. 6$ The beft and 



moft intelligent elephants come from the ifland of Ceylon ; Re- 



cueii 



