The Elephant 1 1 



known them to travel all day long without resting, feeding as they went. 

 In hot weather elephants drink every night, if possible, but my observa- 

 tions on the Chobi River led me to think that during the cold season 

 they only drank on alternate nights. I have often seen places where 

 elephants have rolled, or rubbed themselves on the side of ant-heaps, but I 

 have never either seen one actually lying down to rest, or found the marks 

 on the ground where one had been lying, and I should therefore say from 

 my own experience, that, except to roll in mud and water, the African 

 elephant never lies down at all during its whole life. Neither the period 

 of gestation nor the age attained by the African elephant has ever been 

 ascertained with any accuracy, but in these respects it is not likely to 

 differ very much from its near relative of India, in which country the 

 late well-known authority, Colonel Sanderson, ascertained that the period 

 of gestation for a male elephant calf was twenty-two months and for a 

 female calf eighteen months, whilst he puts the age likely to be attained 

 by a wild elephant at from 120 to 150 years. 



There is probably no animal in the whole world possessed of a keener 

 sense of smell than the African elephant. The sense of hearing, too, is fairly 

 well developed, though by no means remarkably acute ; but its eyesight 

 is very bad, as it cannot distinguish a human being from a tree stump, though 

 he be standing in full view within fifty yards, so long as he stands absolutely 

 still. Any movement will, however, be at once noticed. In one sense 

 the African elephant is the most timid of animals, for it will do every- 

 thing in its power to avoid meeting a human being, and it is not too much 

 to say that the scent of the smallest baby, if conveyed to the delicate 

 olfactory nerves of one of a herd of elephants, would put the whole of the 

 troop to flight, and keep them on the move for many miles. However, 

 when actually attacked, elephants are often very savage, and the more they 

 are hunted the more vicious they become. Often, if pursued on horseback, 

 one of a herd of elephants will charge as soon as it sees its mounted 



