400 



THE ELEPHANTS. 



Njaro, and Hans Meyer saw them at an elevation of 

 even 12,000 feet above the sea. Tamed Elephants 

 also give evidence of great skill and untiring endur- 

 ance in the ascent of high mountains. 

 The Elephant a Numerous as Elephants may be in 



Wary Beast the centre of Africa, it is sometimes 

 of Game. exceedingly difficult to discover their 

 exact haunts, as they lead an extremely restless life. 

 While on their journeys from one locality to another 

 they always follow the steps of their leader, choos- 

 ing either an old path or selecting a new route, 

 always in a direct line, exhibiting a perfect indiffer- 

 ence as to whether the road leads them through for- 

 ests, bogs, or narrow chasms or over steep heights. 

 It seems as if natural obstacles could offer no im- 

 pediment to their course: they swim across streams 

 and lakes, easily work their way through the very 

 thickest primeval forests, frequently forming regu- 

 lar roads with firm foundations, because in their 

 migrations they not only march in squads of close 

 formation, but sometimes in single columns, which 

 leave comparatively narrow tracks or paths. Their 

 roads deviate at regular intervals from the dry re- 

 gions of the heights to such places as furnish them 

 with water for drinking and bathing purposes. 

 [ Peculiarities of The leader of a herd calmly stalks 

 : Elephants on through the forests, heedless of the 



the March. underbrush, which it treads down 

 with its broad feet, unmindful of the branches of 

 ti^ees. In the mountains the Elephants select and 

 , build roadways as in the forest, display an ingenuity 

 which arouses the admiration of even human engi- 

 neers. The Elephants always choose for their route 

 the most favorable passes found in the locality 

 through which they journey. Some of these passes 

 are used by them so regularly and for so long a 

 time, that the animals' feet wear off hard stones. 

 The Muscular The Elephant is clumsy in appear- 



Actiuity of ance only, being in reality very agile. 



Elephants. j^g usual gait is a quiet, uniform am- 

 ble, similar to that of the Camel and the Giraffe, 

 covering from two and one-half to three and three- 

 fourths of a mile in an hour. This ordinary pace can 

 be accelerated to such an extent, however, that the 

 speed can be doubled for a distance of nine and 

 one-half to twelve and one-half miles. The huge 

 creature is an expert in slinking softly through the 

 woods so as not to be heard at all. "At first," says 

 Sir Emerson Tennent, speaking about the Asiatic 

 Elephant, "a wild herd rushes through the under- 

 brush with a great deal of noise, soon, however, this 

 noise subsides into a perfect silence so that a tyro is 

 led to the belief that the fleeing giants have made 

 but a few steps and then stopped short.". When 

 ascending acclivities of considerable steepness, the 

 Elephant gives evidence of the qualities of a genu- 

 ine climber. On the ascent of a mountain its prog- 

 ress goes on tolerably well, but in the descent the 

 enormous weight of the animal naturally causes it to 

 labor under greater disadvantage. If the Elephant 

 under these conditions employed its usual gait it 

 would certainly lose its balance, turn a somersault 

 and perhaps lose its life in the fall. But the wary 

 creature does not do so; it kneels down at the edge 

 of the declivity so that its chest rests on the ground, 

 and then it very deliberately pushes its fore-legs on, 

 until they have found a point of support; then it 

 draws its hind legs up and reaches the bottom in 

 this way, gliding and sliding. Yet it sometimes 

 happens that an Elephant gets a bad fall in the 

 course of its nocturnal wanderings. 



The old belief that an Elephant cannot lie down 

 is thoroughly refuted by every Elephant we see in a 

 circus. It is true that the giant does not always 

 sleep lying down, but often in a standing position, 

 yet if it wishes to be quite comfortable, it liess down, 

 and when it arises does so with the ease character- 

 istic of all its movements. The unwieldy animal is 

 no less proficient in the art of swimming, and throws.: 

 itself into the water with evident delight, and divest 

 below the surface at will. If it so pleases it swims' 

 across broad and swift streams and may even stay- 

 under water for a long time, lifting only the tip of 

 the trunk above the- surface for thp purpose of 

 breathing. V 



Proficiency of the '^^^ probosCis. is , an organ of high 



Elephant's Pro- development, capable of serving a 

 boscis. variety of purposes. Only in excep- 



tional cases^ .is it used to deal a blow or to seize an 

 enemy, for the trunk is a very sensitive organ, and is 

 therefore carefully guarded against all collisions and 

 rough or dangerous operations, by being closely 

 curled up under the mouth. It is mainly used to 

 take up fo6d, water, etc., and convey them to the 

 mouth, and is also an organ of scent. With the ex- 

 tremely mobile muscular projections at the end of 

 the organ it can easily pick up the smallest objects, 

 such as pins, etc. With its proboscis the animal 

 breaks off branches and uproots small trees, using 

 the feet for pressing down larger ones; for pushing 

 objects it uses that portion of the frontal bone of the 

 skull which is situated just below the eyes and be^ 

 tween that point and the base of the trunk. When, 

 in the service of Man, it has to lift heavy burdens, it 

 takes the rope which is fastened to them into its 

 mouth, usually looping it over one of its tusks, if it 

 has any. The tusks are also used in many other 

 ways, but always with the same great' caution dis- 

 played in using the trunk, and certainly not as levers 

 for the removal of stone-blocks or pulling up of 

 roots of trees; they chiefly serve as weapons of de- 

 fence or attack, and their miscellaneous or careless 

 use is scrupulously avoided, as they are compara- 

 tively easily broken. 



Development of AH the higher perceptive faculties of 



the Senses of the Elephant are in accord with its 

 Elephants. before mentioned qualities. Sight 

 does not seem to be highly developed; at least 

 hunters are of the opinion that the range of vision 

 of this animal is very restricted. Smell and hearing 

 are all the better developed, however, while taste 

 and touch are at least proportionately acute, as can 

 easily be ascertained by observation of captive ani- 

 mals. All sportsmen have stories to tell about the 

 acute sense of hearing of the animal. The slightest 

 noise suffices to rouse an Elephant's attention; the 

 breaking of a small twig is sufficient to put an end 

 to its tranquillity. The sense of smell is exceed- 

 ingly delicate and is effectual at great distances; no 

 sportsman can approach within reasonable range of 

 this animal if the wind blow from the hunter to- 

 ward the Elephant, The proboscis is the main organ 

 of the sense of touch, and the finger-shaped append- 

 age at the lower extremity can vie with the trained 

 finger of a blind man in its power of transmission of 

 delicate sensatioa.- 



The vocal expression of the Elephant has a wf cle ' 

 range and the sounds by which it makes manifest its 

 emotions are tnanifoid. A feeling of comfort is sig- 

 nified by a very low murmur; fright is expressed by 

 powerful, noisy chest sounds rising, when absolute 

 terror is expressed, to short, shrill trumpet-notes. 



