jS THE ELEPHANT. 



' By giving elephants,' fay the Dutch voya- 

 gers *, ' whatever is agreeable to them, they 

 are loon rendered as tame and fubmifliVe as 

 men. They may be faid to be deprived of the 



ufe of language only They are proud 



and ambitious ; but they are fo grateful for be- 

 nefits received, that, as a mark of refpect, they 

 bow their heads in paffing the houfes where 



they have been hofpitably received They 



allow thernfelves to be led and commanded by 

 a child t; but they love to be praifed and ca- 

 refled. They quickly feel an injury or an af- 

 front; and the guilty perfon fhould be on his 

 guard; for he may reckon himfelf happy if 

 they content thernfelves with fquirting water 

 upon him with their trunks, or limply throw- 

 ing him into a mire.' 



* The elephant,' P.Philippe remarks J, c makes, 

 a near approach to the judgment and reaibning 

 of man. When compared with the apes, they 

 appear to be ftupid and brutal animals. The 

 elephants are i'o extremely modeft , that they 

 will not copulate in the prefence of any per- 

 fon; and if, by accident, any man perceives 

 this operation, they infallibly relent it, &c. . . . 

 Their falute is performed by bending the 

 knees, and lowering the head; and, when their 



1 mailer 



* Voyage de la Conipagine des Indesdc Kollanda, torn. r. 



P- 4 X 3- 



•j- Idem, torn. -j. p. 31. 



% Voyage d'Oricnt du P. Philippe de la Tres-Sainte-Tri- 

 nite, p. 366. 



