DESTRUCTIVE TO VEGETATION. 
295 
trouble the water. Some are of opinion they do 
this to avoid being shocked with the reflection of 
their own ugly shapes. But in my opinion, they 
do it by the same instinctive laws which direct 
geese, ducks, and other birds to mix sand or gravel 
frequently with the water they drink, in order to 
carry off crudities and indigestion.” 
That elephants are very destructive to arborous 
vegetation cannot be denied. Everyone who has 
traversed the wooded regions of Southern Africa, 
must admit such to be the case. In many instances 
that have come under my own observation, this 
destruction would seem to have been altogether 
wanton. Often, indeed, have I seen regular ave¬ 
nues, so to say, of trees that have been thrown 
down by these animals without their having fed on 
either their roots or branches; what, therefore, 
could have induced them to take all this useless 
trouble, is to me a mystery. Cfi Possibly,” as some 
one says, €C it was done to try their strength, or 
one or other of the troop may have had the bump of 
destructiveness about it ?” 
When elephants abound in the near vicinity of 
man, they are certainly not at all times the best of 
neighbours, as what follows will show : 
C£ In the year 1821,” says Pringle, “ during one 
of my excursions in the interior, I happened to 
spend a few days at the Moravian Missionary Settle¬ 
ment of Enon, or White River. This place is si¬ 
tuated in a wild but beautiful valley, near to the 
foot of the Zwurberg Mountains, in the District of 
Uitenhage, and is surrounded on every side by ex- 
