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 Sogers, 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 



