SOUTHERN AFRICA. 179 
late been moft completely fet afide by fads performed in the 
prefence of many hundred fpedators. Several Englifli gentle- 
men, refident in the interior parts of India, have bred elephants. 
In a letter from one of thefe gentlemen to his friend, dated 
Tipperah, July 11, 1793, the whole procefs of courtfhip, con- 
fummation, and time of geftation, are minutely ftated. From 
this letter the following are points that appear to be moil 
unqueftionably afcertained, 
Firft : That tame elephants will procreate in their domeftic 
ftate, and perform the adt of love without fhame, and without 
feeling any fenfe of delicacy beyond other brute animals. 
Secondly : That the period of geftation is about twenty-one 
months. 
Thirdly : That they copulate invariably in the fame manner 
as a horfe with a mare, but with much lefs vigor. And, 
Fourthly, That the female will again receive the male in five 
or fix months after delivery. 
A copy of the above-mentioned letter having been tranfmit- 
ted to the late ingenious Sir William Jones, the relation pro- 
duced from the fportive fancy of that celebrated genius the 
commencement of a mock-heroic poem, in which, though very 
fhort, the marks of exuberant imagination ftrongly appeared. 
He intitles it Pelion and OfTa. 
A A 2 
A.; 
