ELEPHANTS. 255 



fire. A war of annilailation is this, in whicli neitlier young nor old, 

 neither the female nor the male, is spared, and in its indiscriminate 

 slaughter it compels us sorrowfully to ask and answer the question 

 ' Cui bono ? ' No other reply seems possible but what is given 

 by the handles of our walking-sticks, our billiard-balls, our 

 pianoforte-keys, our combs and our fans, and other unimportant 

 articles of this kind. No wonder, therefore, if this noble creature, 

 whose services might be so invaluable to man, should even 

 perhaps some time during our own generation be permitted to 

 rank in the category of the things that have been, and to be as 

 extinct as the ure-ox, the sea-cow, or the dodo." 



What grand animals they are, these huge monsters with their 

 massive heads, enormous bodies, colossal limbs, small but kindly 

 eyes, and with what wonderful dexterity that wonderful trunk of 

 theirs can be used, being equally available for picking up a crumb, 

 or lifting an enormous weight. What relics of the past they seem 

 with their majestic walk and solemn gravity, their imperturbable 

 temper and dignified bearing, contrasting so strongly with the 

 restless movements of the other animals around. Just think of 

 their veritable age, the record of their ancestry lost in the pre- 

 historic times. The lion with his imposing mane, and his deep- 

 toned growl, even man himself is but of yesterday compared with 

 these animals, their pedigree coming down to us from the long 

 enduring and pre-adamite ages. Yet, with all their ponderous 

 weight and fearful strength, how quiet and how docile they can be, 

 how readily they obey their master, at one time his dutiful servants, 

 at another his protector, now assisting him in his labour and anon 

 ministering to his comfort or pleasure. The subjugation of these 

 noble beasts should be one of man's proud boasts, and their race 

 loyally protected, not exterminated. 



The elephant is the ' largest land animal now existing, its 

 height varying between eight and ten feet at the shoulder, its 

 extreme length being between sixteen and twenty feet, and its 

 weight somewhere between three and five tons. The head is 

 very massive and unwieldy, in consequence of the neck being so 

 short, a formation necessary to support the enormous weight ; in 

 fact without the animal kneels down, the head cannot be made 



