538 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 
have done much to illustrate the Natural History of an 
immense and wholly unknown country. Of the two, Harris 
has ten years the precedence in the field; and to say the 
least, there is a somewhat suspicious resemblance between 
many of the incidents in Cummings’ book and his on the 
“Sports of South Africa.” This coincidence, however natural, 
from the fact that much the same ground has been gone 
over by both, is yet strong enough to show that Cummings 
has taken Harris for his master and model. As a proper 
introduction to these “Wild Scenes,” I shall give from 
Cummings a general sketch of the habits of the elephant. 
Before proceeding further with my narrative, it may here 
be interesting to make a few remarks on the African elephant 
and his habits. The elephant is widely diffused through the 
vast forests, and: is met with in herds of various numbers. 
The male is very much larger than the female, consequently 
much more difficult to kill. He is provided with two enormous 
tusks. These are long, tapering, and beautifully arched; 
their length averages from six to eight feet, and they weigh 
from sixty to a hundred pounds each. In the vicinity of 
the equator the elephants attain to a greater size than to 
the southward; and I am in the possession of a pair of tusks 
of the African bull elephant, the larger of which measures 
ten feet nine inches in length, and weighs one hundred and 
seventy-three pounds. The females, unlike Asiatic elephants 
in this respect, are likewise provided with tusks. The price 
which the largest ivory fetches in the English market is from 
£28 to £32 per hundred and twelve pounds. Old bull 
elephants are found singly or in pairs, or consorting together 
in small herds, varying from six to twenty individuals. The 
younger bulls remain for many years in the company of their 
mothers, and these are met together in large herds of from 
twenty to a hundred individuals, The food of the elephant 
consists of the branches, leaves and roots of trees, and also of 
a variety of bulbs, of the situation of which he is advisec by 
