ELEPHANT. 
433 
both old and new Hottentots all approached with 
eagerness, in order to collect the blood. With that 
view, they cut open its belly,, and took out the blad- 
der, which they emptied. One of them then applied 
the mouth of it to one of the wounds, while the 
rest shook a leg of the animal to make the blood 
flow more readily. In a little time, to their great 
joy, the bladder was filled ; and I am persuaded, 
that with what was lost, they might have filled 
twenty. I had approached the body also, but with 
a different design ; for my intention was only 4o 
measure and examine it. The savages of the horde, 
accustomed to see such animals very bften, assured 
me that it was one of the largest of its species. I, 
however, did not believe them ; and what induced 
me to doubt their information was, that its principal 
born was only (in French measure) nineteen in- 
ches three lines in length ; and I had seen horns 
much longer in the possession of some of the Dutch 
planters. The height of the animal was seven feet 
five inches, and its length from the snout to the root 
of the tail eleven feet six inches. 
Elephant 
The elephant, which is, perhaps, the mildest of 
all large animals, appears, when provoked, to be 
more prone to resentment than others of the most 
ferocious disposition. An instance of his vindic- 
tive spirit occurred to some Dutch boors, who tra- 
velled to the eastward in search of the place where 
the Grosvenor Indiaman was cast away, which 
is remarkable in this respect, and the authenticity 
of which cannot be called in question. This 
animal, after having received into his body several 
large musket balls, and twice fallen on the ground, 
crept with difficulty into a thick thorny coppice. 
Conceiving him to be done for,” says Jacob Van 
