280 WILD ANIMALS. 



" Great numbers of the trees have been broken ofi by elephants a 

 foot or two from the ground, in order that they may feed on the 

 tender shoots at the top ; the trees thus seem pollarded from that 

 point. In spite of the practice, the elephant never seriously 

 lessens the number of trees; indeed, I have often been struck 

 by the very httle damage he does in a forest. His food con- 

 sists for the most part of bulbs, tubes, roots, and branches." 



The Indian species, are essentiajUy grass-feeding animals, 

 living on different kinds of herbage, and are particularly partial to 

 the cultivated crops, such as rice, corn, and all sorts of grain. 

 Consequently, if these are grown near their haunts in the forest, 

 the poor husbandman has frequently serious loss inflicted on him, 

 which sometimes amounts to the total demolition of his harvest. 



The African species are not only conspicuous by the size of 

 their ears and height, but also by the length and beauty of their 

 ivory, for both sexes possess magnificent tusks, which appear to be 

 almost a necessity to them, in order that they may be enabled to 

 obtain their food. Sir Samuel Baker states : " The general food 

 of the African elephant consists of foliage of trees, especially of 

 mimosas. In Ceylon, although there are many trees that serve as 

 food, the elephant nevertheless is an extensive grass feeder. The 

 African variety, being almost exclusively a tree feeder, requires 

 his tusks to assist him in procuring food. Many of the mimosas 

 are flat-headed, about thirty feet high, and the richer portion of 

 the foliage confined to the crown ; thus the elephant, not being 

 able to reach to so great a height, must overturn the tree to 

 procure the coveted food. The destruction caused by a herd of 

 African elephants in a mimosa forest is extraordinary, and I have 

 seen trees uprooted of so large a size that I am convinced no 

 single elephant could have overturned them. I have measured 

 trees four feet six inches in circumference, and about thirty feet 

 high, uprooted by elephants. The natives have assured me that 

 they usually assist each other, and that several engage together in 

 the work of overturning a large tree. None of the mimosas have 

 tap-roots, thus the powerful tusks of the elephant applied as crow- 

 bars to the roots, while others pull at the branches with their 

 trunks, will effect the destruction of a tree so large as to appear 



