chap, vii.] AFRICAN AND CEYLON ELEPHANTS. 187 
The natives have assured me that they mutually assist 
each other, and that several engage together in the 
work of overturning a large tree. None of the mimosas 
have tap-roots ; thus the powerful tusks of the ele¬ 
phants, applied as crowbars at the roots, while others 
pull at the branches with their trunks, will effect the 
destruction of a tree so large as to appear invulnerable. 
The Ceylon elephant rarely possessing tusks, cannot 
destroy a tree thicker than the thigh of an ordinary man. 
In Ceylon, I have seldom met old bulls in parties— 
they are generally single or remain in pairs ; but, in 
Africa, large herds are met with, consisting entirely of 
bulls. I have frequently seen sixteen or twenty 
splendid bulls together, presenting a show of ivory 
most exciting to a hunter. The, females in Africa con¬ 
gregate in vast herds of many hundreds, while in 
Ceylon the herds seldom average more than ten. 
The elephant is by far the most formidable of all 
animals, and the African variety is more dangerous 
than the Indian, as it is next to impossible to kill it 
by the forehead shot. The head is so peculiarly 
formed, that the ball either passes over the brain, or 
lodges in the immensely solid bones and cartilages 
that contain the roots of the tusks. I have measured 
certainly a hundred bull tusks, and I have found them 
buried in the head a depth of twenty-four inches. 
One large tusk, that measured 7 ft. 8 in. in length, and 
22 inches in girth, was imbedded in the head a depth 
of 31 inches. This will convey an idea of the enormous 
size of the head, and of the strength of bone and 
cartilage required to hold in position so great a weight, 
and to resist the strain when the tusk is used as a 
lever to uproot trees. 
The brain of an African elephant rests upon a plate 
of bone exactly above the roots of the upper grinders; 
it is thus wonderfully protected from a front shot, as 
it lies so low that the ball passes above it when the 
elephant raises his head, which he invariably does 
when in anger, until close to the object of his attack. 
