148 



MAMMALIA. 



[Chap. IV. 



evince on the approach of man, they exhibit no indication 

 of hostility or thirst for blood. 



An ordinary traveller seldom comes upon elephants 

 unless after sunset or towards daybreak, as they go to or 

 return from their nightly visits to the tanks : but when 

 by accident a herd is disturbed by day, they evince, if 

 unattacked, no disposition to become assailants ; and if 

 the attitude of defence which they instinctively assume 

 prove sufficent to check the approach of the intruder, no 

 further demonstration is to be apprehended. 



Even the hunters who go in search of them find them 

 in positions and occupations altogether inconsistent with 

 the idea of their being savage, wary, or revengeful. 

 Their demeanour when undisturbed is indicative of 

 gentleness and timidity, and their actions bespeak las- 

 situde and indolence, induced not alone by heat, but 

 probably ascribable in some degree to the fact that 

 the night has been spent in watchfulness and amuse- 

 ment. A few are generally browsing listlessly on the 

 trees and plants within reach, others fanning themselves 

 with leafy branches, and a few are asleep ; whilst the 

 young run playfully among the herd, the emblems of 

 innocence, as the older ones are of peacefulness and 

 gravity. 



Almost every elephant may be observed to exhibit 

 some peculiar action of the limbs when standing at rest ; 

 some move the head monotonously in a circle, or from 

 right to left ; some swing their feet back and forward ; 

 others flap their ears or sway themselves from side to side, 

 or rise and sink by alternately bending and straightening 

 the fore knees. As the opportunities of observing this 

 custom have been almost confined to elephants in cap- 

 tivity, it has been conjectured to arise from some morbid 



