110 MAMMALIA. (Cuar. III. 
the valleys from ridge to ridge, through forests so dense 
as altogether to obstruct a distant view, the elephants 
invariably select the line of march which communicates 
most judiciously with the opposite point, by means of 
the safest ford.! So sure-footed are they, that there 
are few places where man can go that an elephant can- 
not follow, provided there be space to admit his bulk, 
and solidity to sustain his weight. 
This faculty is almost entirely derived from the 
unusual position, as compared with other quadrupeds, 
of the knee joint of the hind leg; arising from the 
superior length of the thigh-bone, and the shortness of 
the metatarsus: the heel being almost where it pro- 
jects in man, instead of being lifted up as a “hock.” 
It is this which enables him, in descending declivities, 
to depress and adjust the weight of his hinder por- 
tions, which would otherwise overbalance and force him 
headlong.” 
1 Dr. Hooxer, in describing the 
ascent of the Himalayas, says, the 
natives in making their paths de- 
spise all zigzags, and run in straight 
lines up the steepest hill faces; 
whilst ‘the elephant’s path is anex- 
cellent specimen of engineering — 
the opposite of the native track, — 
for it winds judiciously.” —Hima- 
layan Journal, vol. i. ch. iv. 
2 Since the above passage was 
written, I have seen in the Journal 
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 
vol. xiii, pt. ii, p. 916, a paper 
upon this subject, illustrated by 
the subjoined diagram, 
The writer says, “an elephant 
descending a bank of too acute an 
angle to admit of his walking down 
it direct, (which, were he to at- 
tempt, his huge body, soon disar- 
ranging the centre of gravity, would 
It is by the same arrangement that he is 
certainly topple over,) procecds 
thus, His first manwuvre is to 
knecl down close to the edge of the 
declivity, placing his chest to the 
ground: one fore-leg is then cau- 
tiously passed a short way down 
the slope; and if there is no natu- 
ral protection to afford a firm foot- 
ing, ho speedily forms one by 
stamping into the soil if moist, or 
kicking out a footing if dry. This 
La gained, the other fore-leg is 
rought down in the same way ; 
and performs the same work, a 
little in advance of the first; which 
is thus at liberty to move lower 
still, Then, first one and then the 
second of the hind legs is carefull 
drawn over the side, and the hind- 
fect in turn occupy the resting- 
places previously used and left by 
the fore ones, The course, how- 
