Chap. XI. 



LUMBERS ANNUALLY SLAIN. 



243 



from our knowledge of the nature of the animals, it re- 

 quires a painful stretch of charity to believe ever existed, 

 even in dreams ; and others of deeds which lead one to 

 conclude that the proportion of "born butchers," in the 

 population, is as great as of public-house keepers to the 

 people in Glasgow. 



The amount of ivory taken to the marts of the world shows 

 that about 30,000 elephants are annually slain * It is highly 



* After a lecture by Professor Owen, 

 F.E.S., at the Society of Arts, London, 

 17th Dec, 1856, on the "Ivory and 

 Teeth of Commerce," Mr. P. L. Sim- 

 monds gave some trade statistics from 

 ■which it was calculated that upwards 

 of 30,000 elephants annually perished. 

 In one cargo of 1276 elephants' tusks, 

 weighing in all 20,953 lbs., the average 

 weight was 16 £ lbs. In another cargo 

 556 elephants' tusks weighed 9698 lbs., 

 giving an average of 17g lbs. In the 

 accompanying note with which Mr. 

 Simmonds has kindly obliged us, the 

 ivory mentioned refers only to our 

 own trade ; the exports from India 

 and Siam to China, from Zanzibar, 

 and the East Coast to India and the 

 United States, and from the French 

 African possessions to France, are 

 not included. He takes the average 

 weight at 30 lbs., and estimates the 

 number killed annually at 30,000 — as 

 stated in the text. Elephants, as a rule, 

 never shed their tusks. "We have only 

 met with pieces broken' off when the 

 animal was engaged in digging up the 

 roots of trees ;— so, practically, every 

 tusk seen in the market belonged to 

 an elephant now dead ; and, consider- 

 ing the number of calves destroyed 

 before the tusk becomes of any value 

 to the trader, it is probable that 40,000 



is about the actual number annually 

 killed. 



We have made no reference to what 

 may be called monster tusks, of from 

 130 to 150 lbs. — some are spoken of 

 as upwards of 200 lbs. In some parts, 

 the average tusk may weigh 60 lbs. ; 

 but as a set-off to this in the calcula- 

 tion it must be remembered that one 

 of the places not included, namely, 

 Zanzibar, for many years received 

 annually 20,000 tusks. 



" Importation of Ivory of all lands 

 into the United Kingdom — elephants' 

 tusks, walruses, and hippopotamus 

 teeth : — 





C'wts. 



A" 



1856 



9,866 



343,517 



1857 



9,890 



421,318 



1858 



12,279 



410,608 



1859 



10,821 



* 336,147 



1860 



10,854 



332,166 



1861 



11,163 



297,491 



1862 



11,605 



262,962 



1863 



9,290 



256,059 





8/85,768 



2,660,268 



Averag 



e 10,721 



332,533 



" The import of hippopotamus teeth 

 and walrus is scarcely more than 10 or 

 12 tons a year ; therefore it is scarcely 

 worth considering. The difficulty is 

 what average weight to take the tusks 

 at. 30 lbs. may be considered a fair 



E 2 



