46 THE ELEPHANT 



consume inappreciable morsels. I remember, a 

 few years ago, watching for some time a herd of 

 elephants, of which I had succeeded in approach- 

 ing to within a very short distance. It was 

 during the period of the ripening of the Marula 

 plum,^ of which elephants are inordinately fond. 

 At a distance of about 30 yards from where I 

 was concealed a fine tree full of this fruit was 

 growing. Around it the great beasts collected, 

 looking upward at the tiny golden globes, which 

 were, however, somewhat beyond their reach. 

 At length a large female backed some few yards, 

 and slightly lowering her massive head she 

 charged the tree, ramming it with the centre 

 of her forehead. The blow was terrific, and, 

 although the tree successfully resisted it, the 

 shock was immediately followed by a plentiful 

 shower of plums, which the surrounding elephants 

 proceeded to eat, picking them up daintily one 

 by one, and conveying them into their mouths 

 after a moment's scrutiny. I have often thought 

 that had I been in the tree at the moment of 

 impact I should have had an uncommonly good 

 chance of being shaken down, so violent was the 

 blow it received. The above incident is not 

 unlike one which Baker himself witnessed, and 

 is doubtless of constant occurrence in the 

 elephant's daily experiences. 



From the foregoing it will perhaps have been 

 understood that the pursuit upon foot of an 

 animal endowed with such an astonishing — indeed, 

 sometimes almost uncanny degree of intelligence 



1 Trachylobium Mozambicensis. 



