714 



THE TROPICAL WOKLD. 



Land " is his wonderful trunk, which, uniting the flexibility of the serpent with a 

 giant's power, almost rivals the human hand by its manifold uses and exquisite deli- 

 cacy of touch. Nearly eight feet in length and stout in proportion to the massive 

 size of the whole animal, this miracle of nature, at the volition of the elephant will 

 uproot trees or gather grass ; raise a piece of artillery or pick up a comfit ; kill a man 

 or brush off a fly. It conveys the food to the mouth, and pumps up the enormous 

 draughts of water, which, by its recurvature, are turned into and driven down the 

 capacious throat, or showered over the body. Its length supplies the place of a long 

 neck, which would have been incompatible with the support of the large head and 

 weighty tusks. A glance at the head of the elephant will show the thickness and 

 strength of the trunk at its insertion ; and the massy arched bones of the face and 

 thick muscular neck are admirably adapted for supporting and working this incom- 

 parable instrument, which is at the same time the elephant's most formidable instru- 

 ment of defense, for, first prostrating any minor assailant by means of his trunk, he 

 then crushes him by the pressure of his enormous weight. 



The use of the elephant's tusks is less clearly defined. Though they are frequently 

 described as warding off" the attacks of the tiger and rhinoceros, often securing the 

 victory by one blow, which transfixes the assailant to the earth, it is perfectly obvious, 

 both from their almost vertical position and the difficulty of raising the head above 

 the level of the shoulder, that they were never designed for weapons of attack. No 

 doubt they may prove of great assistance in digging up roots, but that they are far 

 from indispensable, is proved by their being but rarely seen in the females, and by 

 their almost constant absence in the Ceylon elephant, where they are generally found 

 reduced to mere stunted processes. 



Elephants live in herds, usually consisting of from ten to twenty individuals, and 

 each herd is a family, not brought together by accident or attachment, but owning a 

 common lineage and relationship. In the forest several herds will browse in close 

 contiguity, and in their expeditions in search of water they may form a body of possi- 

 bly 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 defense. Generally the most vigorous and courageous of the herd assumes 

 the leadership : his orders are observed with the most implicit obedience, and the de- 

 votion and loyalty evinced by his followers are very remarkable. In Ceylon this is 

 more readily seen in the case of a " tusker " than any other, because in a herd he is gen- 

 erally the object of the keenest pursuit by the hunters. On such occasions the ele- 

 phants 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 sports- 

 men have to shoot a number which they might otherwise have spared. 



When individuals have been expelled from a herd, or by some accident or other have 

 lost their former associates, they are not permitted to attach themselves to any other 

 family, and ever after wander about the woods as outcasts from their kind. Rendered 

 morose and savage from rage and solitude, the rogue elephants become vicious and 

 predatory ; and so sullen is their disposition, that although two may be in the same 

 vicinity, there is no known instance of their associating, or of a rogue being seen in 

 company with another elephant. These rogue elephants seem to belong, however, 

 wholly to the Asiatic variety ; at least, we find no special mention of them by African 



