278 WILD ANIMALS. 



" Jumbo " and " Alice " were procured by the Zoological Society, 

 African elephants were never seen in England. 



In London in 1730 or 1731 some workmen, engaged in digging 

 the great sewer in Pall Mall, " over against the ' King's Arms 

 Tavern,' " at th.e depth of twenty-eight feet, came across several 

 bones of an elephant ; and some years previously elephant- bones 

 were found in St. James's Square, but whether they were the 

 remains of animals of the African species which bad been brought 

 over by the Romans was not ascertained. 



The African elephant was formerly believed to be a fierce and 

 untamable beast of no other use but to supply ivory, but this 

 theory had no foundation. There seems to be no valid reason 

 assigned why, at the present day, African elepbants should not 

 be caught, tamed, and utilized in the same manner as their Indian 

 and Ceylon congeners. That they are fully capable of being 

 domesticated is shown by the behaviour of tbe animals of this 

 species now exhibited in various collections. They appear to have 

 some advantages, for not only are tbey more active animals, bat 

 are apparently more capable of enduring the fatigue of long 

 marches or hard work, and they delight in being exposed to the 

 burning sun even during the hottest hours of the day, while the 

 Indian animals dislike it, and invariably retreat to the shady places 

 when left to themselves. 



The experience gained by the keepers in the Zoological Gardens 

 with respect to the African animals is that they are more self- 

 willed and intelligent than the Indian ones, but as they cannot be 

 coaxed or driven into doing anything they dislike, are in conse- 

 quence harder to handle. 



" The barbarous tribes," says one writer, " that people 

 Southern Africa have never dreamt of the possibility of rendering 

 this lordly quadruped serviceable in a domestic capacity; and 

 even amongst the colonists there exists an unaccountable super- 

 stition that his subjugation is not to be accomplished. His 

 capture, however, might readily be achieved, and as he appears 

 to possess all the aptitude of his Asiatic relative, the only 

 diflBlculty that presents itself is the general absence within our 

 territories of sufficient food for his support." 



