II 
THE ELEPHANT 
49 
with prickly aloes^ the horse could not escape, and 
Mr. Ingram was swept off the saddle and impaled 
upon the elephant’s tusks. 
The African differs from the Asiatic in the for¬ 
mation of ivory, the tusks of the former being both 
thicker and heavier; the females also possess tusks, 
whereas those of the Asiatic variety have merely 
embryo tusks, which do not project more than two 
or three inches beyond the lips. I had a tusk of an 
African elephant that weighed 149 lbs. I have 
seen in Khartoum a pair that weighed 300 lbs., and 
I saw a single tusk of 172 lbs. In 1874 a tusk 
was sold at the ivory sale in London that weighed 
188 lbs. These specimens are exceptions to the 
general rule, as the average weight in a full-grown 
African male would be about 140 lbs. the pair, or 
75 lbs. for one tusk and 65 lbs. for the fellow, which 
is specially employed for digging. 
The African variety is an industrious digger, as 
it feeds upon the succulent roots of many trees, 
especially those of the mimosa family. The right 
tusk is generally used in these operations more than 
the left; accordingly it is lighter from continual 
wear, and it is known by the Arabs as the “ hadam ” 
or servant. As the African elephant is a root-eater 
it is far more destructive than the Asiatic. It is 
astonishing to observe the waste of trees that are 
upturned by a large herd of these animals, sometimes 
out of sheer wantonness, during their passage through 
a forest. The dense tops of mimosas are a great 
attraction, and there can be no doubt that elephants 
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