Chap. VII.] 
THE ELEPHANT. 
237 
evidently embodies the romantic recitals of the sailors 
returning from the navigation of the Indian Seas, in the 
middle ages 1 , which were current amongst the Mussul- 
mans, and are reproduced in various forms throughout 
the tales of the Arabian Nights. 
1 See a disquisition on the origin to his translation of the Arabian 
of the story of Sinbad, by M. Eei- Geography of Aboulfeda, vol. i. p. 
naxjd, in the introduction prefixed lxxvi. 
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VII. 
As iElian's work on the Nature of Animals has never, I believe, 
been republished in any English version, and the passage in 
relation to the training and performance of elephants is so per- 
tinent to the present inquiry, I venture to subjoin a translation 
of the 11th Chapter of his 2nd Book. 
" Of the cleverness of the elephant I have spoken elsewhere, 
and likewise of the manner of hunting. I have mentioned 
these things, a few out of the many which others have stated ; 
but for the present I purpose to speak of their musical feeling, 
their tractability, and facility in learning what it is difficult 
for even a human being to acquire, much less a beast, hitherto 
so wild : — such as to dance, as is done on the stage ; to walk 
with a measured gait ; to listen to the melody of the flute and 
to perceive the difference of sounds, that, being pitched low 
lead to a slow movement, or high to a quick one : all this the 
the elephant learns and understands, and is accurate withal, 
