398 



THE ELEPHANTS. 



ful body and head, and a straight, broad, sloping 

 back. Its eye is full, clear and prepossessing.- Phys- 

 ically and mentally it is a noble.animal, triastworthy 

 and fearless, moving with stately and measured 

 tread, as if expressly created for royal pageantry. 

 The Mierga is its reverse; it is of light, ill-looking 

 build, long-legged, small-headed, pig-eyed, with 

 arched, steep back, narrow chest and iull abdomen, 

 a weak, flabby trunk and a thin skin which is easily 

 injured. The Dwasala is a medium between these 

 two widely differing breeds and is also the most 

 numerous of the three. It is not humap interfer- 

 ence that has produced these three breeds so dif- 

 ferent from each other; they are found in the same 

 wild herd, and we may, therefore assume that they 

 are but physical variations of the same species and 

 hence are closely related. 

 Albinos or White Light-colored or light-spotted speci- 

 Elephants Very mens, so-called white Elephants, are 

 Rare. rarely seen. In Siam, where albinos 



of all kinds of animals are much esteemed, as they 

 are believed to be the rulers of their kind, where 

 the white Elephant is held sacred as the most pow- 

 erful of all animals and one title of the king is 

 " Lord of the white Elephant," it appears that the 

 people have been able to obtain but few light-col- 

 ored specimens, notwithstanding all possible efforts 

 have been made, and a really white one does, not 

 seem to have been found as yet. 

 Birtli and Growth In India the Elephant is full-grown 



of the Ele- at twenty-five years of age, though 

 phant. ii does not reach its prime until the 



age of thirty-five. A male is capable of reproduc- 

 tion at about the twentieth year. The first offspring 

 is born to a female at about the age of sixteen, and 

 other young ones follow at an average interval of 

 two years and a half. The newborn Elephants are 

 about thirty-six inches high at the shoulder and their 

 average weight on the second day is one hundred 

 and eighty pounds. For six months they feed ex- 

 clusively on the mother's milk; then they gradually 

 begin to eat some tender grasses, but milk still 

 continues for a few months longer to be their main 

 article of diet. From the hour of birth they appear 

 to be less awkward than other young anirrials, and 

 strike one as pretty, though droll animals; dur- 

 ing the first period of life they preferably keep un- 

 der the body and between the legs of their mother 

 and do not even leave that place of security when 

 she assumes a quicker gait. It is stated that they 

 , are under the mother's protection for several years, 

 at any rate until the birth of a brother or sister ousts 

 them from the first place in maternal care. The first 

 shedding of teeth occurs during the second year, 

 the second in the sixth, the third in the ninth year. 

 Habitat of the This animal is a native of the greater 



Asiatic Ele- part of wooded country of south- 

 phant. eastern Asia, existing in India, from 



the foot of the Himalayas to its southern extremity, 

 in Assam, Burmah, Siam, and on the Malayan penin- 

 sula, and in smaller numbers on the adjacent islands 

 of Ceylon, Sumatra and Borneo. In some regions it 

 is already extinct or at least its numbers have been 

 greatly diminished, yet it still occurs in all of the 

 larger forests, in mountains and plains within the 

 designated range. 



The African There can be no doubt as to the 

 Elephant's Char- specific difference of the African 



acteristics. Elephant (Elepkas africanus) from 

 the Asiatic species. It exceeds its Asiatic kins- 

 man in size, but its shape is, on the whole, less sym- 



metrical, though in the institution of such a com- 

 parison we must consider the different breeds of 

 the African species also according to external ap- 

 pearance, and classify them in the same way as is 

 done in India. Its body is shorter, but the legs are 

 longer than those of its relative; its flat head with 

 its thin trunk, large tusks and enormous ears, the 

 arched line of its back, its narrow chest and ugly legs 

 constitute a union of distinctive features, which- defi- 

 nitely separate it from the Asiatic Elephant. 



The Range of The range of the African Elephant 

 the African has been considerably restricted 

 Elephant. within the present century, espe- 

 cially from the south, and now ex;tends fjrom about 

 the latitude of Lake Chad in the north to that of 

 Lake Ngami in the south. Ther^ is no invalHable 

 boundary line, as the Elephants not only wander 

 over immense distances, but also change their 

 haunts, disappearing in some regions for years 'or 

 even for decades and as unexpectedly appearing in 

 others. 



The Elephant Both species were well known to the 

 Known in An- ancients, and living specimens were 

 cient Times. early brought to Europe. The Me- 

 dian and Persian Emperor Darius, if we accept the 

 records of history, was the first to employ Ele- 

 phants in battle in his conflicts with Alexander 

 the Great. Aristotle was fortunate enough to see 

 some Elephants taken by the latter and thus was 

 enabled to give a fairly accurate description of 

 the animal. From that time Elephants are fre- 

 quently mentioned in history. For nearly three 

 hundred years they were employed in Europe in the 

 incessant wars waged by the various nations for 

 supremacy until the Romans finally emerged' victo- 

 rious from the contest. Besides the Indian Ele- 

 phant, the African species was also used in warfare, 

 especially by the Carthagenians, who seem to have 

 been adepts in the training of these animals, subse- 

 quently declared untamable. 



The Romans employed Elephants mainly in their 

 circuses. To what extent the African Elephants 

 were trained may be judged from the fact that the 

 Roman showmen taught them to write letters with 

 pencils, and to walk up and down a slack rope; four 

 of them would carry in a sedan chair a fifth one 

 which pretended to be ill; they could dance to- 

 music, eat at a table luxuriously loaded with gold 

 and silver dishes, observing all rules of etiquette, 

 and decorum, and had learned other tricks. 

 The Chosen Dom- In their native countries Elephants 

 idle of Ele- may be found in extensive forests. 

 phants. i-^e more swampy and unbroken or 

 impenetrable the jungle of woodland, the more fre- 

 quent is the animal. But one would be greatly mis- 

 taken if he entertained the belief that it is to be 

 found only in such forests. It has been affirmed 

 that this largest of terrestrial mammals shunned the 

 cool air of elevated regions, but this is most em- 

 phatically disproved by the testimony of conscien- 

 tious and reliable observers. In Ceylon, the hilly 

 and mountainous spots are the regions most fa- 

 vored by the Elephants. A similar taste may be 

 affirmed of the African species. In the Bogos 

 country I found signs that Elephants had ranged at. 

 an elevation of 6,000 feet, and have been informed 

 that in the neighboring regions the animals regu- 

 larly frequent the highest mountains, which would 

 give them a range certainly extending to an altitude- 

 of about 9,000 feet above the sea. Von der Decken. 

 found traces of them at this height on the Kilima- 



