34 
WILD BLASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
seeks the shelter of a forest about an hour before 
the sun rises. It feeds heartily, but wastefully, 
tearing down branches, half of which it leaves un¬ 
touched ; it strips the bark off those trees which 
it selects as tasteful, but throws wilfully away a 
considerable portion. Throughout the entire night 
the elephant is feeding, and it is curious to observe 
how particular this animal is in the choice of food. 
Most wild animals possess a certain amount of 
botanical knowledge which guides them in their 
grazing; the only exception is the camel, who would 
poison himself through sheer ignorance and depraved 
appetite, but the elephant is most careful in its 
selection of all that is suitable to its requirements. 
It is astonishing how few of the forest trees are 
attractive to this animal. Some are tempting from 
their foliage, others from their bark (vide the power¬ 
fully astringent Catechu), some from the succulent 
roots, and several varieties from the wood, which is 
eaten like the sugar-cane. There is one kind of 
tree the wood of which alone is eaten after the rind 
has been carefully stripped off 
The elephant, being in its wild state a nocturnal 
animal, must be able to distinguish the various 
qualities of trees by the senses of smell and touch, 
as in the darkness of a forest during night it would 
be impossible to distinguish the leaves. There 
are few creatures who possess so delicate a sense of 
smell; wild elephants will wind an enemy at a dis¬ 
tance of a thousand yards, or even more, should the 
breeze be favourable. The nerves of the trunk are 
