54 6 UNGULATES. 



of 23 feet 5 inches from the tip of the trunk to the end of the tail, with a 

 maximum girth of 16h feet; its weight being 4 tons 8 cwts. and 4 lbs. In one 

 killed near Lake Nyasa by Sir John Kirk, the height at the withers was 10 feet 



3 inches, the total length 25 feet 2 inches, and the maximum girth 18 feet. These 

 dimensions are, however, largely exceeded by those of the well-known " Jumbo," 

 formerly in the London Zoological Society's Gardens, whose height at the withers 

 was 11 feet, and his weight 6h tons. As this animal was brought up in captivity, 

 there can be no doubt but that wild individuals must attain considerably larger 

 dimensions ; and Sir Samuel Baker states that he has seen very much larger 

 animals than " Jumbo." 



In regard to the dimensions of the tusks, Sir S. Baker gives about 140 lbs. for 

 the average weight of a pair in a full-grown male ; but owing to the exclusive use 

 of one tusk for digging, the two would not be of equal weight. The same writer 

 states that a single tusk sold in London in 1874 weighed 188 lbs.; and one in 

 the possession of Sir E. G. Loder weighs 184 lbs., with a length of 9 feet 5 inches, 

 and a girth of 22i inches. Another mentioned by Sir S. Baker weighed 172 lbs.; 

 while one recorded by Sir J. Kirk had a weight of 160 lbs., a length of 9 feet 



4 inches, and a girth of 20i inches. A fine specimen in the collection of Mr. 



Rowland Ward has the same length as the last, but its weight is 110 lbs., and its 



girth 18 inches. The longest on record appears, however, to be one mentioned by 



Gordon dimming, of which the length is given as 20 feet 9 inches, and the weight 



173 lbs. 



Although its fossilised remains have been found in the superficial 

 Distribution. .... . . . 



deposits of Spain, Sicily, and Algeria, this species is now confined to 



Africa south of the Sahara, where it was formerly spread over the whole of the 



wooded districts. Owing, however, to constant persecution for the sake of its 



tusks, the African elephant has been greatly reduced in numbers, and is now 



practically exterminated from large areas in the southern portion of the continent. 



Indeed, if measures are not shortly taken for its protection, it stands a good 



chance of sharing the fate which has already befallen the quagga and Burchell's 



rhinoceros ; although it may survive for some time in the more remote equatorial 



districts and the Sudan. In the districts lying to the southward of the Zambesi, 



Messrs Nicolls and Eglington state that, with the exception of a few scattered 



herds in the more unfrequented parts of Matabililand, and the extremity of North- 



Eastern Mashonaland, elephants " are now only met with in anything like 



reasonable quantities in the impenetrable bush of the low-lying coast country in 



the region of Sofala Bay. A few herds may possibly exist in the extreme north 



and north-east of Ovamboland, bordering on the Cuneni and Okavango Rivers ; 



but if so, they are only a few tuskless males or young females. The last herd 



frequenting the Botletli and the neighbourhood of Lake Ngami was completely 



destroyed three years ago [1889] by Bechuanas; and although a good many are 



certainly to be met with in the country between the Chobi and Zambesi, it is 



improbable that they will survive the attacks of the Barotsi natives during the 



next two or three years." Some herds are preserved in a protected state by the 



Government in the forests in the east of the Cape Colony. In East Africa, in the 



Kilima-Njaro district, elephants are still fairly plentiful. There they ascend, at 



