Chap. VII j 



THE ELEPHANT, 



229* 



connexion between the pulp and the ivory. But if, as 

 there seems no reason to doubt, these delicate nervous 

 processes traverse the tusk by means of the numerous 

 tubes already described, if attacked by caries the pain 

 occasioned to the elephant would be excruciating. 



As to maintaining a stud of elephants for the purposes 

 to which they are now assigned in Ceylon, there may 

 be a question on the score of prudence and economy. 

 In the rude and unopened parts of the country, where 

 rivers are to be forded, and forests are only traversed 

 by jungle paths, their labour is of value, in certain 

 contingencies, in the conveyance of stores, and in the 

 earlier operations for the construction of fords and 

 rough bridges of timber. But in more highly civilised 

 districts, and wherever macadamised roads admit of 

 the employment of horses and oxen for draught, I appre- 

 hend that the services of elephants might, with advan- 

 tage, be gradually reduced, if not altogether dispensed 

 with. 



The love of the elephant for coolness and shade 

 renders him at all times more or less impatient of work 

 in the sun, and every moment of leisure he can snatch 

 is employed in covering his back with dust, or fanning 

 himself to diminish the annoyance of the insects and 

 heat. From the tenderness of his skin and its liability 

 to sores, the labour in which he can most advantageously 

 be employed is that of draught ; but the reluctance of 

 horses to meet or pass elephants renders it difficult to 

 work the latter with safety on frequented roads. Be- 

 sides, were the full load which an elephant is capable of 

 drawing, in proportion to his muscular strength, to be 

 placed upon waggons of corresponding dimension, the 

 injury to the roads would be such that the wear and 



Q 3 



