128 MAMMALIA. 



who were sonietimes accompanied thus by Elephants that had been 

 trained to carry torches.* 



One reads in the Stratagetns of War, by Polyenus, that Julius 

 Caesar, during his conquest of part of the Island of Great Britain, 

 made use of an Elephant for crossing the Thames more rapidly. 

 Here are the details relating to this event given by Polyenus : — 



" Caesar wanted to cross a great river, the opj)osite bank of 

 which Cassivellaunus, one of the barbarous kings of Britain, was 

 guarding with a large number of cavalrj^, a considerable body of 

 infantry, and a great many chariots of war. The Roman general, 

 seeing how difficult it would be to force the enemy from his 

 position, caused an enormous Elephant, with iron trappings, and 

 having on its back a tower containing archers and slingers, to ad- 

 vance towards the enemy. This strange apparition struck with 

 terror the inhabitants of Albion, who had never seen anything 

 like it before ; their horses took fright and ran away with them, 

 and Caesar became master of the ford." 



We must here mention, with regard to the employment of 

 Elephants in armies, that the Indian is more courageous than the 

 African species. The Romans knew this, for in the battles in 

 which they had only African to oppose to Indian Elephants, they 

 took care to place them, not in front of the army, but behind the 

 soldiers. This, according to Livy, the Romans did at the battle of 

 Magnesium. 



The African Elephant has the head rounder and less broad 

 above than the Asiatic Elephant. Its forehead has not the double 

 lateral bump which is found on the forehead of the latter. Its 

 ears are very much larger, and have their interior rims almost 

 meeting over the occiput ; its tusk also is generally stronger. 

 Various other peculiarities in the form of the bones and of the 

 molar teeth still further distinguish the Elephant of Aii'ica from 

 that of Asia. 



The African Elephant is met with from the Cape of Good Hope 

 to as far north as jSfubia and Cape Verd. It consequently exists 

 in Mozambique, in Abyssinia, in Guinea, and in Senegal. 



African Elephants live, lite those of India, in troops more or 



* In all ancient Greek coins upon which an Elephant is represented it is always 

 the Asiatic species ; and in all Koman coins invai'iably the African species. The 

 Eonians were familiar wilh hoth kinds. — En. 



