268 
THE ELEPHANT. 
unless by hauling him out with their trunks, it 
would not be easy to conjecture; and in corrobora¬ 
tion of this supposition, I found, on examining the 
spot myself, that the edges of the trench were deeply 
indented with numerous impressions, as if the other 
elephants had stationed themselves on either side, 
some of them kneeling, and others on their feet, 
and had thus, by their united efforts, and probably 
after many failures, hoisted their unlucky brother 
out of the pit. 5 ’ 
It is here to be remarked that full-grown male 
elephants seldom tumble into a pit-fall, whilst fe¬ 
males, on the contrary, are not unfrequently found 
engulphed. This is not attributable to less sagacity 
on the part of the latter, but may probably be thus 
explained :—The male, in the full consciousness of 
his superior strength, stands in no dread of other 
denizens of the forest, and has only to guard against 
subterraneous dangers. Accordingly, he invariably 
carries his trunk near to, or actually touching, the 
ground, and, by means of this exquisite organ of 
smell and touch, is enabled to discover the toils in 
time to avoid them. The female, on the other hand, 
who is often accompanied by her young, and is 
naturally anxious for their safety, generally car¬ 
ries her proboscis in a somewhat elevated position, 
wdiich, though it enables her to discover the skulk¬ 
ing hyaena, or other enemies of her offspring, ex¬ 
poses her to be precipitated into the toils. 
Again, it is positively asserted, by the Bush¬ 
men and other natives who are accustomed to en¬ 
trap elephants, that those wily animals, when they 
