288 
THE ELEPHANT. 
doubt on this statement of Mr. Rose, I wish 
merely to point out that the multitude of paths 
argues little or nothing, since a very small herd of 
elephants, if left undisturbed for any length of time, 
will produce them. Moreover, from the great bulk 
of the animal, the space that such an immense troop 
(three thousand) must necessarily occupy, would 
be so extensive that it is questionable whether the 
scope of vision could compass so vast a number, 
more especially in a wooded locality. Indeed, I 
scarcely know anything more deceptive, as regards 
numbers, than a herd of animals in their native 
wilds. 
Major Denham, again, in his journey from Mour- 
suk to Kouka, in B our now, speaks of an enormous 
herd of elephants that he there fell in with. “ They 
seemed,” he tells us, “ to cover the face of the 
country; whole trees were broken down where they 
had fed, and where they had reposed their pon¬ 
derous bodies, young trees, shrubs, and underwood 
were crushed beneath their weight.” 
The favourite haunts of the elephant are deep 
and boundless forests distant from the abodes of 
man, and in near vicinity to rivers or foun¬ 
tains ; but in districts where he is subject to 
persecution, he, in the day-time, retires for the 
most part to inaccessible ravines and jungles, very 
distant, it may be, from water, which he only visits 
during the hours of darkness. Like the whale in 
the ocean, the elephant on land is acquainted with, 
and roams over, wide and extensive tracts. He is 
extremely particular in always frequenting the 
