Natural History of the Elephant. 51 
Here it may be observed, that a female was believed to have 
gone twenty-one months and three days ; being supposed to 
have been covered on the 13th of January, 1788, some days 
before she was driven into the inclosure. When I made par- 
ticular inquiry as to the real time she was taken, the superin- 
tendant* of the hunters said it was in January; but the prin- 
cipal hunters •f declared she was among the herd taken in 
February following, and was probably the same elephant -Mr. 
Buller, Captain Hawkins, and many others, saw covered on 
the 9th and 10th of that month. Perhaps, some days prior 
to this, she might have been covered in the woods, before she 
was brought into the inclosure ; but, as a herd was taken in 
each of those months, and not kept separate, and two years had 
nearly elapsed before I thought of making any inquiry, it was 
impossible for me to determine in which of those months she 
was really taken ; and the only motive I then had for endea- 
vouring to ascertain this point, was to form some probable 
conjecture as to the period of an elephant’s gestation, which 
has now been ascertained, in the instance before related. 
Early in September, 1 795, the female that had been covered, 
and had bred under my own observation, was known to be in 
heat; this was less than six months after bringing forth. 
Learning, at the same time, that the Rajah of Cudwah, a princi- 
pal Zemindar of the province, had a very large male that had 
been in the family near twenty years, from the time he was 
about five years old, I sent a messenger, requesting the elephant 
might be sent to Comillah, which request the Rajah immediately 
complied with. 
To prevent any interruption from the number of spectators, 
* The Darogah. f The Dydars. 
H 2 
