244 



HERD OF FEMALE ELEPHANTS. 



Chap. XT. 



probable, that as the great size of the ears exhibited on 

 ancient Roman coins prove the animals in use by that 

 nation to have been of the African, and not of the Asiatic 

 species, they must have been tamed by the negroes in the 

 interior of Africa. This is the more likely, inasmuch as 

 there is no instance on record of ancient Europeans daring 

 to tame this animal. Never, since the time of the Romans 

 and Carthaginians, has the African elephant been tamed, 

 though it was believed to be much more sagacious than the 

 Asiatic species. 



In this hunt a small herd of female elephants, with their 

 young, were encountered near a belt of open forest near 

 Motunta. Three rifle-balls, including a Jacob's shell, were 

 lodged in the body of the nearest ; a smaller one charged 

 back, but stopped on seeing so many enemies, and went off 

 with the others. The herd waited twice for the wounded 

 one, which was not able to keep up, and only left her 

 to her fate when self-preservation became the more im- 

 perious law. This made us imagine that she was perhaps 

 the mother of the herd. She ran a mile and a half, and then 

 stopped to lean against a tree. A few of our men approached, 

 and fired a volley, she went on a few paces, shook her trunk, 

 dropped gently on one knee, then on the other ; slowly the 

 two hindlegs bent, and she fell.* We read it now with a pang. 



average. If African do not average 

 much more than 20 or 25 lbs., while 

 for Zanzibar and Mosainbique the 

 average would be 60 to 80 lbs., tak- 

 ing the average at 30 lbs. this would 

 imply the annual slaughter of 20,000 

 elephants a year; and, taking the 

 eastern and other markets, the num- 

 ber may be fairly estimated at 30,000 

 animals killed every year for the ivory." 



* The elephant was an ordinary sized 

 female, and her measurement may be 

 of interest to some : — 



Ft. in. 

 Height at withers . . . . 8 2 J 

 Circumference of forefoot . . 3 7 

 Length from tip of trunk to 



eye 6 10 



From eye to eye 14J 



Eye to meatus of ear . . . . 1 3| 



