Elephantiana. 189 



Even upon the highroads of this country, where 

 the shod hoof of the horse is audible far off, the 

 elephant swings his mighty bulk along without 

 apparent effort, and. so silently that "the blind mole 

 may not hear a footfall." 



Huge as it may be, no creature is so difficult of 

 detection. Dr. W. Knighton, the Cingalese elephant 

 hunter, tells me that in the forests of Ceylon you 

 may be standing within a couple of yards of a nine 

 or ten feet elephant, and not be able to distinguish 

 the animal from surrounding objects. Its legs are 

 just like tree trunks, and its brown body merges so 

 imperceptibly into the sombre forest shadows, that 

 the eye is incapable of discerning it. 



Both species are playful, and are even fond of toys. 

 In one case, a large wooden ball was given to the 

 elephants. But they became so excited with their 

 toy, hurling it about as if it were shot from a cannon, 

 that the keepers were obliged to remove it. 



Both species practise a most curious mode of 

 avenging themselves when angered. 



In Mr. Baldwin's work on African hunting, it is 

 mentioned that fully half a mile from any water a 

 tolerably large crocodile was found, hanging in the 

 fork of a tree about ten feet from the ground. The 

 natives seemed to be familiar with this strange position 

 for a crocodile, and said that the reptile had been 

 put there by an elephant. 



They stated that when the elephants wade iato 

 the lake (Nyami) for bathing purposes, the crocodiles 

 are apt to worry them and bite their legs. Some- 

 times, when an elephant is annoyed beyond all 

 patience, it picks up the crocodile in its trunk, puts 

 it among the branches of a tree, and leaves it 

 there. 



The truth of this curious story is corroborated by 



