53 o UNGULATES. 



It is of course impossible to obtain any accurate data as to the 

 ao-e which the Indian elephant may attain in its wild state, and we 

 can only, therefore, suggest an approximation to what this may be from captive 

 specimens. Although full grown at the age of twenty-five, an elephant, as 

 determined by the condition of its teeth, is not then mature. A female captured 

 in Coorg in 1805, when about three years of age, did not appear to be particularly 

 old-looking in 1878, although she had then passed her prime. Other individuals 

 have been known to live in captivity for over a century ; and since it is obvious 

 that the artificial mode of life which prevails in this state cannot be one tending 

 to promote longevity, it is probable that the estimate of a century and a half as 

 the duration of life in the wild state is not excessive. 



At the present day the Indian elephant inhabits the forest- 

 regions of India, Ceylon, Assam, Burma, Siam, Cochin - China, 

 Sumatra, and Borneo ; although Mr. Blanford is of opinion that its occurrence in 

 the island last named may be due to human agency. According to the same writer, 

 in India elephants " are still found wild along the base of the Himalaya as far 

 west as Deira Dun ; also in places in the great forest country between the Ganges 

 and Kistna as far west as Bilaspur and Mandla, in the Western Ghats as far north 

 as 17° or 18°, and in some of the forest-clad ranges of Nagpore and farther south. 

 They do not appear to ascend the Himalayas to any elevation, but are sometimes 

 found at considerable elevations above the sea in Southern India, and in Ceylon 

 they range near Newera Ellia, over seven thousand feet." In former times their 

 distributional area in India was still more extensive. 



For full accounts of the habits of the Indian elephant, both in 



Habits 



the wild and domestic state, we are largely indebted to the writings 

 of Sir Emerson Tennent, Mr. G. P. Sanderson, and Sir Samuel Baker. The 

 accounts of the former were, however, largely drawn from native sources, and are 

 therefore, in some respects, less reliable than those of the other two. It is accord- 

 ingly mainly from the latter that the following summary is compiled. 



Elephants chiefly frequent districts covered with tall forest, where the ground 

 is undulating or hilly, and where bamboos grow in profusion. During the hot 

 months, in the early part of the year, they keep chiefly to the densest portions of 

 the forest, in the neighbourhood of water; but with the commencement of the 

 rains they venture out into the open glades to feed upon the young succulent grass, 

 and in the late summer in the Madras districts descend at times to the lower 

 jungles. Contrary to general opinion, the Indian elephant is exceedingly intolerant 

 of the burning rays of the sun, to which it never voluntarily exposes itself. As 

 Sir S. Baker observes, " its dark colour and immense surface attract an amount 

 of heat which becomes almost intolerable to the unfortunate creature when forced 

 to carry a heavy load in the hot season in India. Even without a greater weight 

 than its rider, the elephant exhibits signs of distress when marching after 9 A.M." 

 In cloudy and showery weather elephants move about a good deal during the time 

 that they are in the open country ; and when travelling from one forest to another 

 they almost invariably march in single file. 



Herds of elephants usually consist of from about thirty to fifty individuals, all 

 of which belong, as a rule, to a single family ; although females and young males 



