112 



MAMMALIA. 



[Chap. III. 



twenty-one elephants, captured in 1844, the trunks of 

 each individual presented the same peculiar formation, 

 - — 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 



