Chap. III.] THE ELEPHANT. 99 
the facts been collated, that the elephant of Ceylon was 
believed " to excel that of Africa in size and strength." 1 
But so far from equalling the size of the African species, 
that of Ceylon seldom exceeds the height of nine feet; even 
in the Hambangtotte country, where the hunters agree 
that the largest specimens are to be found, the tallest of 
ordinary herds do not average more than eight feet. 
Wolf, in his account of the Ceylon elephant 2 , says he 
saw one taken near Jaffna, which measured twelve feet 
and one inch high. But the truth is, that the general 
bulk of the elephant so far exceeds that of the ani- 
mals which we are accustomed to see daily, that the ima- 
gination magnifies its unusual dimensions ; and I have 
seldom or ever met with an inexperienced spectator who 
did not unconsciously over-estimate the size of an ele- 
phant shown to him, whether in captivity or in a state 
of nature. Major Denham would have guessed some 
which he saw in Africa to be sixteen feet in height, but 
1 748-52, p. 565, A probable source 
of these false estimates is men- 
tioned by a writer in the Indian 
Sporting Eeview for Oct. 1857. 
"Elephants were measured for- 
merly, and even now, by natives, 
as to their height, by throwing a 
rope over them, the ends brought 
to the ground on each side, and 
half the length taken as the true 
height. Hence the origin of ele- 
phants fifteen and sixteen feet 
nigh. A rod held at right angles 
to the measuring rod, and parallel 
to the ground, will rarely give 
more than ten feet, the majority 
being under nine." — P. 159. 
1 Shaw's Zoology. Lond. 1806. 
vol. i. p. 216; Aemandi, Hist. 
Milit. des EUphans, liv. i. ch. i. 
p. 2. 
2 "Wolf's Life and Adventures, 
$c, p. 164. "Wolf was a native of 
Mecklenburg, who arrived in Ceylon 
about 1750, as chaplain in one of 
the Dutch East Indiamen, and hav- 
ing been taken into the government 
employment, he served for twenty 
years at Jaffna, first as Secretary 
to the Governor, and afterwards in 
an office the duties of which he 
describes to be the examination 
and signature of the "writings 
which served to commence a suit 
in any of the Courts of justice." 
His book embodies a truthful and 
generally accurate account of the 
northern portion of the island, 
with which alone he was conver- 
sant, and his narrative gives a 
curious insight into the pohcy of 
the Dutch Government, and of the 
condition of the nativea under their 
dominion. 
H 2 
