44 CHILDHOOD OF ANIMALS 



mammal except man. If, however, we remember that a full- 

 grown elephant weighs as much as fifty full-grown men, and that 

 these animals have some difficulty in obtaining the enormous 

 quantities of food they require, the length of their youth is not so 

 remarkable. I think that their intelligence has been not a little 

 over -praised. They are docile, except at special periods of their 

 life, and can be taught to perform different kinds of simple labour 

 and to obey commands. But even in the case of the highly trained 

 animals of the circus ring, if the tricks be carefuUy studied it wiU 

 be seen that they require none of the mental powers shown by dogs, 

 cats, sea-lions or monkeys. Trainers of elephants have told me 

 that they can count on no powers of imitation or originality on 

 the part of their pupils, but have to teach the animals each distinct 

 movement of the performance separately. Elephants have good 

 memories, and take strong likes or dislikes to individuals, but those 

 best acquainted with them disbelieve the familiar stories as to their 

 saving the lives of their keepers and so forth. 



There is no group of living animals closely related to the elephants, 

 but it is probable that the hyraces, rock -rabbits or dassies are their 

 nearest allies. The largest of these animals is no bigger than a hare, 

 and there are different species found in Syria, Arabia and Africa. 

 As they practically never breed in captivity, not much is known 

 about their youth. I had a young West African tree-hyrax brought 

 to me recently which had been taken by its owner when it was in his 

 opinion only a few days old, and which at six months old was 

 not half grown. It is probable, therefore, that the youth of 

 these animals lasts more than a year. I had never seen a tame 

 tree-hyrax before, and this little animal interested me very much. 

 Its owner, who was a mining engineer, did not happen to know 

 anything about the natural habits of his pet, except that it lived in 

 the tops of taU forest trees. He could not get it to eat for some time, 

 and in despair stuffed it with bread and milk. It ate on its own 

 account afterwards, but usually required to be coaxed, which he 

 did by making a sucking noise with his mouth and pretending to eat 

 himself. Persuaded in this way, it took milk with rice, bread or 

 biscuit, hard-boiled egg, apple, lettuce and even pieces of cooked 

 fish. It liked companionship, following its owner about. It 

 made itself at home in my house at once, exploring everything, 

 clinging up the legs of chairs and on the shelves of bookcases, 

 generally making a low chirping purr. It liked rubbing its fur and 

 especially the white hair along the glandular patch on its back against 



