118 
MAMMALIA. 
[Chap. in. 
the latter to communicate with distinctness, orders 
which are observed with the most implicit obedience by 
their followers. The following* narrative of an adven- 
ture in the great central forest toward the north of 
the island, communicated to me by Major Skinnek, 
who was engaged for some time in surveying and 
opening roads through the thickly-wooded districts there, 
will serve better than any abstract description to convey 
an idea of the conduct of a herd on such occasions : — 
"The case you refer to struck me as exhibiting 
something more than ordinary brute instinct, and ap- 
proached nearer to reasoning powers than any other 
instance I can now remember. I cannot do justice to 
the scene, although it appeared to me at the time to be 
so remarkable that it left a deep impression in my 
mind. 
" In the height of the dry season in Neuera-Kalawa, 
you know the streams are all dried up, and the tanks 
nearly so. All animals are then sorely pressed for 
water, and they congregate in the vicinity of those tanks 
in which there may remain ever so little of the precious 
element. 
" During one of those seasons I was encamped on the 
bund or embankment of a very small tank, the water in 
which was so dried that its surface could not have 
exceeded an area of 500 square yards. .It was the only 
pond within many miles, and I knew that of necessity a 
very large herd of elephants, which had been in the 
neighbourhood all day, must resort to it at night. 
" On the lower side of the tank, and in a line with the 
embankment, was a thick forest, in which the elephants 
sheltered themselves during the day. On the upper 
side and all around the tank there was a considerable 
