280 MAMMALIA—ELEPHANT. 
of his body he makes a breach in a wall; that being terrible by L's force, 
he is invincible by the resistance only of his enormous mass, and by the 
thickness of the leather which covers it; that he can carry on his back a 
tower armed in war, with a number of men; that he alone moves machines, 
and carries burthens, which six horses cannot move. To this prodigious 
strength he joins courage, prudence, coolness, and an exact obedience. He 
preserves moderation even in his most violent passion; he is more con- 
stant than impetuous in love; in anger he does not forget his friends; he 
never attacks any but those who have given him offence; he remembers 
favors as long as injuries. Having no taste for flesh, and feeding chiefly 
upon vegetables, he is not naturally an enemy to other animals; he is belov- 
ed by them all, since all of them respect him, and have no cause to fear him. 
For these reasons, men have had at all times a veneration for this great, 
this first of animals. The ancients considered the elephant as a prodigy, 
a2 miracle of nature; they have much exaggerated his natural faculties ; 
they attribute to him, without hesitation, not only intellectual qualities, but 
moral virtues. 
In a wild state, the elephant is neither bloody nor ferocious; his manners 
are social; he seldom wanders alone; he commonly walks in company, the 
oldest leads the herd, the next in age drives them, and forms the rear; the 
young and the weak are in the middle. The females carry their young, and 
hold them close with their trunks. They only, observe this order, however, 
in perilous marches, when they go to feed on cultivated lands. They walk 
or travel with less precaution in forests and solitary places, but still keeping 
at such a moderate distance from each other, as to be able to give mutual 
assistance, and seasonable warnings of danger: Some, however, straggle, 
and remain behind the others; none but these’ are attacked by hunters, for 
asmall army would be requisite to assail the whole herd, and they could 
not conquer without a great loss of men. It is even dangerous to do them 
the least injury ; they go straight to the offender, and, notwithstanding the 
weight of their body, they walk so fast that they easily overtake the lightest 
man in running; they pierce him through with their tusks, or seize him 
with their trunks, throw him against a stone, and tread him  nder their 
feet; Dut it is only when they have been, provoked, that they become so 
furious and so implacable. It is said, that when they have been once attack- 
ed by men, or have fallen into a snare, they never forget it, and seek for 
revenge on ali occasions. As they have an exquisite sense of smell, 
perhaps more perfect than any other animal, owing to the large extent 
of their nose, they smell a man ata great distance, and could easily follow 
nim by the track. These animals are fond of the banks of rivers, deep 
valleys, shady places, and marshy grounds; they cannot subsist a long 
while without water, and they make it thick and muddy before they drink. 
They often fill their trunks with it, either to convey it to their mouth, or 
only to coo) their nose, and to amuse themselves in sprinkling it around 
