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. Kei- Geography of Aboulfeda, yol. i. p. 

 naud, in the introduction prefixed lxxvi. 



APPENDIX TO CHAPTEE 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? 



