396 Correspondence. [No. 2, 



A further Note on Elephants and Rhinoceroses. 



There is a notice of the wild Elephants of Borneo in Mr. Spencer 

 St. John's ' Life in the Forests of the Far East' (1862), I, 95. This 

 author writes — " Among our Malays was one who had frecpiently 

 traded with the north-east coast [of Borneo], and the mention of 

 gading (ivory) brought to his recollection that Elephants exist in 

 the districts about the river Kina Batahgan, I have seen many 

 tusks brought to Labuan for sale, but never measured one longer 

 than six feet two inches, including the part set in the head. 



" I have met dozens of men who have seen the Elephant there, 

 but my own experience has been limited to finding their traces near 

 the sea-beach. It is generally believed that above a hundred years 

 ago the East India Company sent to the Sultan of Sulu a present of 

 these animals ; that the Sultan said, these great creatures would cer- 

 tainly eat up the whole produce of bis little island, and asked the 

 donors to land them at Cape Unsang, on the north-east coast of 

 Borneo, where his people would take care of them. But it is con- 

 trary to their nature to take care of any animal that recpiires much 

 trouble, so the Elephants sought their own food in the woods, and 

 soon became wild. 



" Hundreds now wander about, and constantly break into the 

 plantations, doing much damage ; but the natives sally out with 

 huge flaming torches, and drive the startled beasts back to the 

 woods. 



" The ivory of Bornean commerce is generally produced from the 

 dead bodies found in the forests ; but there is, now living, one man 

 who derives a profitable trade in fresh ivory. He sallies out on dark 

 nights, with simply a waist-cloth and a short, sharp spear : he crawls 

 up to a herd of Elephants, and, selecting a large one, drives his 

 spear into the animal's belly. In a moment, the whole herd is on 

 the move, frightened by the bellowing of their wounded companion, 

 who rushes to and fro, until the panic spreads, and they tear headlong 

 through the jungle, crushing before them all the smaller vegetation. 

 The hunter's peril at that moment is great, but fortune has favoured 

 him yet, as he has escaped being trampled to death. 



" In the morning he follows the traces of the herd, and, carefully 

 examining the soil, detects the spots of blood that have fallen from 



