252 
THE ELEPHANT. 
Many people profess to be able to judge of the 
age of the elephant by his tusks ; but to my notions 
they are a very uncertain criterion. In this opinion 
I am borne out by my friend, Frederick Green, who 
has probably killed as many of those animals as any 
man in Southern Africa. In a note to me he says : 
cc I do not think, as a general rule, that the age 
of the elephant can be ascertained by the size and 
solidity of his tusks ; for instance, a large bull may 
be observed with very small tusks. From the 
appearance of the latter before they are taken out of 
the head, he would be set down as a young elephant, 
but one is surprised to find that the tusks are very 
solid, or with a very small hollow in the root; he is 
then looked on as an old bull. On the other hand, 
an elephant, similar in proportions, is shot with an 
immense pair of tusks, say ninety, or even one 
hundred, pounds each—a rare occurrence in this 
part of Africa, I grant. He is of course termed a 
very old bull, but when these tusks are examined 
they are found to be very hollow, and, if solid in the 
same proportion as the others, would perhaps attain 
a weight of a hundred and twenty or thirty pounds. 
I have remarked this on many occasions, both in 
elephants killed and in tusks bartered. Again, a 
large bull is frequently to be met with having 
ridiculously small tusks, perhaps not exceeding 
fourteen or sixteen pounds weight, and at the same 
time very hollow. I remember a case in point 
whilst hunting in the Omuramba-Omtaka. I was 
returning home, having killed a large bull, when I 
suddenlv encountered two other bulls standing 
