CHAPTER XX. 



THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 



Geographical Distribution. — Indian and African Species Compared. — The Cey. 

 Ion Elephant. — The Capture of Wild Elephants. — Breeding in Captivity. — ■ 

 Gestation of the Elephant. — Duration of Life. — Growth and Height. — Size 

 of Tusks. — Classes of Elephants. — Uses. — Table of Values. — Intellectual 

 Capacity and Temper. — Elephants at Work in a Timber Forest. — Feeding 

 Elephants. — Cost of Keeping. — "Must," or Temporary Insanity — '"Rogue " 

 Elephants. — How au Elephant Kills a Man. — Swimming Power of Ele- 

 phants. 



DuEiNG my stay in Southern India I was so frequently brought in 

 contact with elephants, both tame and wild, that I was able to study 

 them with some care. As a fitting appendix to the record of my 

 experience in the " Elephant Mountains " (Animallais), I will en- 

 deavor to give a brief sketch of this interesting animal. 



According to the classification of most naturalists, there are only 

 two species of elephants now living, the Indian and the African, both 

 of which are veiy much smaller than their extinct ancestors, the 

 mammoth (Elephas primogenius) of Europe and Asia, and the Ele- 

 phas ganesa of Northern India. The Indian vai'iety {Elejyhas In- 

 dicus) is found in a T\-ild state in most of the large forest tracts 

 fi'om the Terai, at the foot of the Himalayas, to within a few miles 

 of Cape Comorin, and also throughout Assam, Burmah, and Siam, 

 and almost the entire length of the Malay Peninsula. In Southern 

 India, elephants are most abundant on the Animallai Hills, in the 

 Wainaad Forest, Coorg, and part of Mysore, particularly the Billiga- 

 rungan HUls. In the north, they are common in the Bhootan Hills, 

 Assam, and the mountains of Chittagong, and in the Territory of 

 Selangore, near the lower end of the Malay Peninsula they are so 

 numerous and mischievous that au elephant hunter is welcomed by 

 the officers of the government and the natives as well. Elephants 

 are also found in Ceylon in great numbers, and in Sumatra and 

 Borneo, of which hereafter. 



