152 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
African elephant is accustomed to eat coarser, harder food than the Asiatic species. This sup- 
position is borne out by fact; for whilst the Asiatic elephant feeds mainly upon grass, the leaves 
and fruit of the wild plantain, and the young shoots of the bamboo, together with the leaves, 
twigs, and bark of certain trees, the African species never eats grass, and, although very fond of 
certain kinds of soft and succulent food, such as wild fruits and the inner bark of certain trees, 
is constantly engaged in chewing up the roots and branches of trees as thick as a man’s wrist for 
the sake of the sap and bark, the woody portions being rejected after having been reduced to 
pulp. The Asiatic elephant appears to be far less tolerant of exposure to the heat of the sun 
than the African; and whilst the latter may often be found standing at rest or sleeping through- 
out the hottest hours of the day in long grass or scrubby bush of a height not sufficient to afford 
any protection from the sun to the whole of the upper portion of the head and body, the former, 
when in a wild state, is said to always seek the shade of the densest forests it can find during hot 
weather. 
The Asiatic elephant often lies down when resting and sleeping. This is in marked contrast 
to the African species, which, if it ever does lie down at all, except to roll in mud or rub itself 
against an ant-heap, can only do so very rarely, since in all my experience, though I have seen 
some thousands of African elephants standing sleeping during the heat of the day, I have never 
yet seen one of these animals lying down, nor found the impress in the ground where one had 
been so lying. 
When excited and charging, both species of elephant raise their heads and cock their ears, 
which in the African animal stand out at such a time like two sails, and, being each upwards of 
3% feet in breadth, cover, together with the animal's head, an expanse of fully 10 feet. The 
Asiatic elephant is said to remain mute whilst charging, and to hold its trunk tightly curled up 
between its tusks. The African elephant, on the other hand, usually accompanies a charge with 
a constant succession of short, sharp trumpeting screams. Sometimes, though rarely, however, 
animals of this species remain mute whilst charging, but they never, I believe, coil their trunks 
up under their throats. Often an African elephant will swing round for a charge with a loud 
scream and trunk held high in the air; but in my experience, when settling down to a chase, it 
drops its trunk and holds it pointing straight down in front of its chest. 
In the southern portions of the 
African Continent the average standing 
height at the shoulder of full-grown bull 
elephants ranges from 10 feet to Io feet 6 
inches, though individuals have doubtless 
been met with in those districts which 
have much exceeded these dimensions. In 
North Central Africa the average standing 
height appears to be some inches higher, 
approaching 11 feet, and in those districts 
it is quite possible that individuals exist 
which exceed 12 feet in height. African 
cow elephants stand from 8 feet to 8 feet 
6 inches at the shoulder. The Asiatic 
species is considerably smaller than the 
African, the average height of full-grown 
males not exceeding 9 feet, though certain 
individuals now and then attain toa much fie e 
greater size, aS is indicated by the fact Photo by M. E. F. Baird, Esq. 
that there is a mounted skelton of an THE CHIEF OF CHIENGMAI'S CARRIAGE 
Indian. elephant in the Museum at Cal- This victoria was drawn by a young Indian elephant 
