112 
MAMMALIA. 
[Chap. Ill, 
twenty-one elephants, captured in 1844, the trunks of 
each individual presented the same peculiar formation, 
i — long, and almost of one uniform breadth throughout, 
instead of tapering gradually from the root to the nostril. 
In another instance, the eyes of thirty-five taken in one 
corral were of the same colour in each. The same slope 
of the back, the same form of the forehead, is to be de^ 
tected in the majority of the same group. 
In the forest several herds will browse in close con- 
tiguity, and in their expeditions in search of water they 
may form a body of possibly one or two hundred ; but 
on the slightest disturbance each distinct herd hastens 
to re-form within its own particular circle, and to take 
measures on its own behalf for retreat or defence. 
The natives of any place which may chance to be fre- 
quented by elephants, observe that the numbers of the 
same herd fluctuate very slightly ; and hunters in pur- 
suit of them, who may chance to have shot one or more, 
always reckon with certainty the precise number of 
those remaining, although a considerable interval may 
intervene before they again encounter them. The pro- 
portion of males is generally small, and some herds have 
been seen composed exclusively of females ; possibly in 
consequence of the males having been shot. A herd 
usually consists of from ten to twenty individuals, though 
occasionally they exceed the latter number ; and in 
their frequent migrations and nightly resort to tanks 
and water-courses, alliances are formed between mem- 
bers of associated herds, which serve to introduce new 
blood into the family. 
In illustration of the attachment of the elephant to 
its young, the authority of Knox has been quoted, that 
" the shees are alike tender of any one's young ones as 
