$6 Mr. Corse’s Observations on the 
The Madras elephants have been said to be from seventeen 
to twenty feet high ; but, to show how much the natives of India 
are inclined to the marvellous, and how liable Europeans them- 
selves are to mistakes, I will relate a circumstance that happened 
to myself. 
Having heard, from several gentlemen who had been at Dacca, 
that the Nabob there had an elephant about fourteen feet high, 
I was desirous to measure him ; especially as I had seen him 
often myself, during the year 1785, and then supposed him to 
be above twelve feet. After being at Tiperah, and having seen 
many elephants caught, in the years 1786, 1787, and 1788, and 
finding all of them much inferior in height to what I supposed 
the Nabob’s elephant, I went to Dacca, in 1 789, determined to 
see this huge animal measured. At first, I sent for the driver,* 
to ask some questions concerning this elephant ; he, without 
hesitation, assured me he was from ten to twelve cubits, that 
is, from fifteen to eighteen feet high ; but added, he could not, 
without the Nabob’s permission, bring me the elephant to be 
examined. Permission was accordingly asked, and granted : I 
had him measured exactly, and was rather, surprised to find he 
did not exceed ten feet in height. 
The Honourable Company’s standard, for serviceable ele- 
phants, is seven feet and upwards, measured at the shoulder, in 
the same manner as horses are. At the middle of the back, 
they are considerably higher; the curve or arch of which, 
particularly in young elephants, makes a difference of several 
inches. 
After an elephant has attained his full growth, it is a sure 
sign of old age when this curve becomes less ; and still more 
* Or Mahote, as he is generally called. 
