SOUTH AFRICAN SUPERSTITION. 
299 
manner as a dog, his persecutor to his home, and, 
if fire be burning on the hearth, will seize a lighted 
brand with his trunk, and fire the dwelling over its 
owner’s head.” 
The Namaquas, it is to be remarked, stand in 
great dread of the elephant, and few are bold 
enough to attack him, either on horseback or on 
foot; and fewer still will venture to taste of the 
creature’s flesh, “ because,” say they, “ his sense is 
so like unto that of a man.” 
With certain tribes it is, moreover, the belief that 
the herd (of elephants) has a chief, or captain, who 
never caters for himself, but is supplied with sus¬ 
tenance by his subjects. These chiefs are said to 
be regular swells in their way, their hides and tusks 
being beautifully clean, thanks, no doubt, to the 
fair sex by whom they live surrounded. 
Another superstition regarding the elephant, very 
prevalent in Southern Africa, is 66 that, after the 
death of the animal, his companions drag the body 
away to a distance and bury it.” The almost un¬ 
heard-of existence of a perfect specimen gives some 
countenance, it must be confessed, to the idle story, 
which to my mind is easy enough of solution : for, 
however imperishable the giant structure may ap¬ 
pear, the bones, on becoming separated from their 
joints and sockets, are no doubt dispersed by the 
hyaenas and other carnivorous animals. Even the 
ponderous head may be found hundreds of paces 
removed from where it was first deposited. 
They tell you, moreover, that u if, when the ele¬ 
phant is crossing a river, or taking a bath, he is 
