246 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 
and conquer the lion. We must observe, that he shakes 
the ground at every step ; that with his trunk he roots up 
trees; that with the strength of his body he makes a breach 
in a wall; that, being terrible by his force, he is invincible 
by the resistance only of his enormous mass, and by the 
thickness of the leather which covers it; that he can carry 
on his back a tower armed in war, with a number of men; 
that he alone moves machines, and carries burthens, which 
six horses cannot move. To this prodigious strength he 
joins courage, prudence, coolness, and an exact obedience: 
he preserves moderation even in his most violent passion; 
he is more constant than impetuous in love; in anger he 
does not forget his friends; he never attacks any but those 
who have given him offence; he remembers favours as long 
as injuries : having no taste for flesh, and feeding chiefly 
upon vegetables, he is not naturally an enemy to other ani- 
mals; he is beloved by them all, since all of them respect 
him, and have no cause to fear him. For these reasons, 
men have had at all times a veneration for this great, this 
first of animals. The ancients considered the Elephant as 
a prodigy, a miracle of nature; they have much exaggerated 
his natural faculties; they attribute to him, without hesita- 
tion, not only intellectual qualities, but moral virtues. 
In a wild state, the Elephant is neither bloody nor fero- 
cious; his manners are social; he seldom wanders alone; he 
commonly walks in company, the oldest leads the herd, the 
next in age drives them, and forms the rear; the young and 
the weak are in the middle. The females carry their 
young, and hold them close with their trunks. They only 
observe this order, however, in perilous marches, when they 
go to feed on cultivated lands; they walk or travel with less 
precaution in forests and solitary places, but still keeping at 
such a moderate distance from each other, as to be able to 
give mutual assistance, and seasonable warnings of danger. 
Some, however, straggle, and remain behind the others; 
none but these are attacked by hunters, for a small army 
would be requisite to assail the whole herd, and they could 
not conquer without a great loss of men; it is even danger- 
ous to do them the least injury, they go straight to the 
offender, and, notwithstanding the weight of their body, 
they walk so fast that they easily overtake the lightest man 
in running; they pierce him through with their tusks, or 
seize him with their trunks, throw them against a stone, 
and tread him under their feet; but it is only when they 
have been provoked, that they become so furious and so 
implacable. It is said, that when they have been once at- 
tacked by men, or have fallen into a snare, they never for- 
get it, and seek for revenge on all occasions. As they have 
an exquisite sense of smelling, perhaps more perfect than 
any other animal, owing to the large extent of their nose, 
they smell a man at a great distance, and could easily follow 
him by the track. These animals are fond of the banks of 
rivers, deep valleys, shady places, and marshy grounds; 
they cannot subsist a long while without water, and they 
make it thick and muddy before they drink; they often fill 
their trunks with it, either to convey it to their mouth, or 
only to cool their nose, and to amuse themselves in sprink- 
ling it around them; they cannot support cold, and suffer 
equally from excessive heat, for, to avoid the burning rays 
of the sun, they penetrate into the thickest forests; they also 
bathe often in the water; the enormous size of their body is 
rather an advantage to them in swimming, and they do not 
swim so deep in the water as other animals; besides, the 
length of their trunk, which they erect, and through which 
they breathe, takes from them all fear of being drowned. 
Their common food is roots, herbs, leaves, and young 
branches; they also eat fruit and corn, but they have a dis- 
like to flesh and fish. When one of them finds abundant 
pasture, he calls the others, and invites them to come and 
feed with him. As they want a great quantity of fodder, 
they often change their place, and when they find cultivated 
lands, they make a prodigious waste; their bodies being of 
an enormous weight, they destroy ten times more with 
their feet, than they consume for their food, which may be 
reckoned at the rate of one hundred and fifty pounds of grass 
daily. As they never feed but in great numbers, they 
waste a large territory in about an hour’s time; for this rea- 
son, the Indians and the Negroes take great pains to prevent 
their visits, and to drive them away, by making a great 
noise, and great fires; notwithstanding these precautions, 
however, the Elephants often take possession of them, drive 
away the cattle and men, and sometimes pull down their 
cottages. It is difficult to frighten them, as they are little 
susceptible of fear; nothing can stop them but fire- works, 
and crackers thrown amongst them, the sudden effect of 
which, often repeated, forces them sometimes to turn back. 
It is very difficult to part them, for they commonly attack 
their enemies all together, proceed unconcerned, or turn 
back. 
The female Elephant goes two years with young; when 
she is in that condition the male never conjoins with her. 
They only bring forth a young one, which has teeth as soon 
as brought forth; he is then larger than a boar; yet his tusks 
are not visible, they appear soon after, and at six months old 
are some inches in length; at that age, the Elephant is larger 
than an ox, and the tusks continue to increase till he is ad- 
vanced in years. 
It is very easy to tame the Elephant. As he is the 
strongest and most rational of animals, he is more serviceable 
than any of them; but he was formerly supposed to feel his 
servile condition, and never to couple in a domestic state. 
This, however, has been found to be an erroneous opinion. 
