244 
THE ELEPHANT. 
variably retreats to thick shady forests at sunrise, 
whereas the African species often enjoy themselves 
in the burning sun during the hottest hours of the 
day, amongst plains of withered grass many miles 
from a jungle. 
Again, the African elephant is a more decided 
tree-feeder than the Indian, and the destruction 
caused by these animals in a mimosa forest, as 
will be shown hereafter, almost exceeds credence. 
The African species is also more active than the 
Indian in its movements, and more capable of 
enduring the fatigue of long marches, as proved by 
the distance it at times travels in search of food. 
Of the two species, it is by far the most 
dangerous, the forehead-shot, as I have shown, 
being never to be depended on. The hunter must, 
therefore, await the charge with the conviction that 
the bullet will fail to kill. 
The skin of the African elephant is of a tawny 
colour; but, owing to the animal’s constant habit 
of wallowing in the mire, its hide is generally 
so begrimed with dirt that its real hue is hardly 
discernible. 
The average height of a full-grown male may be 
taken at from eleven to twelve feet, which is about 
a foot higher than the Indian; but still larger are 
occasionally killed. Indeed, if I remember right, 
the late Sir Cornwallis Harris shot one in Abyssinia 
that measured fourteen feet at the shoulder. 
The female is considerably smaller then the male. 
The weight of the animal seems never to have been 
accurately ascertained; but it must be from three 
to four tons. 
