262 
THE ELEPHANT. 
Offendetb none; but leads a quiet life 
Among his own contemporary trees, 
Till Nature lays him gently down to rest, 
Beneath the palm which he was wont to make 
His prop in slumber; there his relics lie 
Longer than life itself had dwelt within them. 
Bees in the ample hollow of his skull 
Fill their was citadels, and store their honey; 
Thence sally forth to forage through the fields, 
And swarm in emigrating legions thence; 
Then little burrowing animals throw up 
Hillocks beneath the over-arching ribs ; 
While birds within the spiral labyrinth 
Contrive their nests.” 
The impression on the minds of many people, 
indeed, is that the elephant is a harmless creature, 
and that, as with the giraffe, it is almost a crime to 
destroy him. That in countries where he is left 
altogether undisturbed, he is peacefully inclined, not 
only towards the brute creation, but to mankind, I 
can readily believe; but in those where he is subject 
to molestation, he can hardly be said to retain his 
innocuousness, as instances innumerable are on 
record, both in Africa and elsewhere, of his attack¬ 
ing travellers and others who have not offended 
him in any way. 
In India, indeed, it would appear that large male 
elephants (there called goondahs , or saims ) are not 
seldom found wandering from the herd, whence the 
natives believe they are driven as a punishment for 
their ferocious excesses. These animals are a terror 
to the district, as, without the slightest provocation, 
they will attack every man, woman, or child that 
chances to cross their path. 
