ORDER VII. PACHYDERJUTA. 283 



greatest use to us by pioneering our route through a most intricate country, 

 never 3'et traversed by a wiicel-carriage, and great part of it, indeed, not 

 easily accessible on horseback. In sucli places, the great bull elephant 

 always marches in the van, bursting through the jungle, as a bullock would 

 through a field of hops, treading down the brushwood, and breaking off 

 ■with his proboscis the larger branches that obstruct-the passage, whilst the 

 females and younger part of the herd follow in his wake. 



"Among tiie mimosa trees sprinkled over the meadows, or lower bottoms, 

 the traces of their operations were not less apparent. Immense numbers of 

 these trees had been torn out of the ground, and placed in an inverted posi- 

 tion, in order to enable the animals to browse at their ease on their juicy roots, 

 which form a favorite part of their food. I observed that, in numerous in- 

 stances, when the trees were of considerable size, the elephant had employed 

 one of his tusks exactly as \vc would use a crowbar — thrusting it under the 

 roots to loosen their hold of the earth, before he attempted to tear them up 

 with his proboscis. iNIany of the larger mimosas had resisted all their elForts ; 

 and, indeed, it is only after heavy rains, when the soil is soft and loose, that 

 they can successfully attempt this operation. 



" While we were admiring these and other indications of the elephant's 

 strength and sagacity, we suddenly foiuid ourselves, on issuing from a woody 

 defde, in the midst of a numerous herd of those animals. None of them, 

 however, were very close to us ; but they were seen scattered in groups over 

 the bottom and sides of a valley two or three miles in length, some browsing 

 on the succulent spcckboom, which clothed the skirts of the hills on either 

 side, others at work among the j-oung mimosas, and sprinkled over the 

 meadows. As we proceeded cautiously onward, some of these groups came 

 more distinctly into view — consisting, apparently, in many instances, of 

 separate families, the male, the female, and the young of different sizes ; and 

 the ffisantic maii-nitude of the chief leaders became more and more striking. 

 The calm and stately tranquillity of their deportment, too, was remarkable. 

 Though we were a band of about a dozen horsemen, including our Hottentot 

 attendants, they seemed either not to observe, or altogether to disregard, our 

 march down the valley. 



" As we rode leisurely along through a meadow thickly studded over with 

 clumps of tall evergreens, I oliscrved something moving over the top of a 

 bush close ahead of us, and had just time to say to the gentleman ucxt me, 

 'Look out there!' when we turned the corner of the bush, and beheld an 

 enormous male elephant standing right in the ]iath, within less than a hun- 

 dred paces' distance, ^^'e halted and surveyed him for a few minutes in 

 silent admiration and astonishment. He was, indeed, a mighty and mag- 

 nificent creature. The two engineer officers, who were familiar with the 



