WILD ELEPHANTS. 
59 
velly and Dindigul districts., is superior perhaps to 
any on the Indian peninsula, independently of the 
beautifully varied forms of the mountains, which are 
almost covered with wood of the most stupendous 
growth. The smaller hills which skirt the plain are 
here and there graced with some exquisite specimens 
of art in the shape of temples, and choultries are 
here just as numerous as they are higher up the 
coast. Throughout this neighbourhood Nature ex- 
hibits herself on a vast scale. Elephants abound in 
the . mighty forests, where trees of immense bulk rise 
from their dark recesses to the extraordinary height 
of from a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, 
nearly three times the stature of the English oak. 
They are stately and grand beyond conception. 
We passed a group of wild elephants under these 
ec mighty giants of the shade,” and these huge animals 
were diminished in appearance almost to the size of 
bullocks. Compared with the towering marvels of the 
forest under which they stood, they appeared so re- 
duced, that the hugeness of their stature seemed quite 
a matter of doubt ; though the frequent crash of 
large branches, violently torn from the parent trunks, 
sufficiently proclaimed their power, and somewhat 
neutralized the illusion. The elephant, in its wild 
state, is exceedingly timid. It is so much afraid of 
man, that it always retires whenever he approaches 
it, and nothing but some very extraordinary provoca- 
tion would induce it to make an attack. Even when 
in herds, however large, elephants always avoid too 
close a proximity to man, as if aware of his moral 
superiority. 
