Chap. III.] THE ELEPHANT. 
117 
great mountain road leading to the sanatarium, at 
Neuera-ellia; and amongst other excesses, killed a Caffre 
belonging to the corps of Caffre pioneers, by seizing 
him with its trunk and beating him to death against the 
bank. 
To return to the herd: one member of it, usually 
the largest and most powerful, is by common consent 
implicitly followed as leader. A tusker, if there be one 
in the party, is generally observed to be the commander; 
but a female, if of superior energy, is as readily obeyed 
as a male. In fact, in this promotion there is no 
reason to doubt that supremacy is almost unconsciously 
assumed by those endowed with superior vigour and 
courage rather than from the accidental possession of 
greater bodily strength; and the devotion and loyalty 
which the herd evince to their leader are very re- 
markable. This is more readily seen in the case of a 
tusker than any other, because in a herd he is generally 
the object of the keenest pursuit by the hunters. On 
such occasions the others do their utmost to protect him 
from danger: when driven to extremity they place their 
leader in the centre and crowd so eagerly in front of him 
that the sportsmen have to shoot a number which they 
might otherwise have spared. In one instance a tusker, 
which was badly wounded by Major Rogers, was promptly 
surrounded by his companions, who supported him be- 
tween their shoulders, and actually succeeded in covering 
his retreat to the forest. 
Those who have lived much in the jungle in Ceylon, 
and who have had constant opportunities of watching 
the habits of wild elephants, have witnessed instances of 
the submission of herds to their leaders, that suggest an 
inquiry of singular interest as to the means adopted by 
I 3 
