THE ELEPHANT. 69 



acquire their full growth in a fiate of liberty, are 

 at leaft nine feet. Thefe enormous malTes of 

 matter fail not, however, as formerly remarked, 

 to move with great quicknefs. They are fup- 

 ported by four members, which, initead of 

 legs, refemble maffy columns of fifteen or eight- 

 teen inches diameter, and from five to fix feet 

 high. Thefe legs, therefore, are twice as long 

 as thofe of a man. Hence, though the elephant 

 fhould make but one ltep, while a man makes 

 two, it would outftrip him in the chafe. The 

 ordinary walk of the elephant is not quicker 

 than that of a horfe *; but, when pufhed, he af- 

 fumes a kind of amble, which, in ileetnefs, is e- 

 quivalent to a gallop. He performs with prompt- 

 nefs, and even with freedom, all direct move- 

 ments ; but he wants facility in oblique or re- 

 trograde motions. It is generally in narrow and 

 hollow places, where the elephant can hardly 

 turn, that the Negroes attack him, and cut off 

 his tail, which they value above all the reft of 

 the body. He has great difficulty in defcending 

 fteep declivities, and is obliged to fold his hind 

 legs f , that, in going down, the anterior part of 

 his body may be on a level with the pofterior, 

 and to prevent being precipitated by his own 

 weight. He fwims well, though the form of his 

 lees and feet feem to indicate the contrarv. But, 



E 3 as 



* Notes of M. de Bufly, communicated by the Marqui 

 &. Montmirail. 



Motes of M. de Bufl)\ 



