114 (Quadrupeds. 
of his quick apprehension, and particularly of his vin- 
dictive treatment of those who have either scoffed at or 
abused him. To disappoint him is dangerous, as he 
seldom fails to be revenged. The following instance is 
given as a fact, and deserves to be recorded: — An 
Elephant, disappointed of his reward, out of revenge, 
killed his governor. The poor man's wife, who beheld 
the dreadful scene, took her two children and thrust 
them towards the enraged animal, saying, " Since you 
have slain my husband, take my life also, as well as 
those of my children !" The Elephant instantly stopped, 
relented, and, as if stung with remorse, took the eldest 
boy in his trunk, placed him on his neck, adopted him 
for his governor, and would never afterwards allow any 
other person to mount him. 
The Elephant's mouth is armed with broad and strong 
grinding teeth, and two large tusks, which measure some- 
times nine or ten feet, and from which the finest ivory 
is produced. The ivory from the tusks of the female is 
thought the best, as the tooth, being smaller, admits less 
porosity in the cellular part of the mass. 
Becoming tame under the mild treatment of a good 
master, the Elephant is not only a most useful servant, 
for the purposes of state or war, but is also of great 
assistance in taming the wild ones that have been 
recently caught. Indian superstition has paid great 
honours to the white race of this quadruped ; and the 
island of Ceylon is supposed to breed the finest of the 
kind. This immense beast, by the wisdom of Providence, 
has not been placed among the carnivorous animals : and 
vegetable food being much more abundant than animal, 
he is destined to live on grass and the tender shoots of 
trees. This noble creature bears in state on his back the 
potentates of the East, and seems to delight in pompous 
pageantry : in war he carries a tower filled with archers ; 
and in peace lends his assistance in domestio operations. 
The female is said to go a year with young, and to bring 
forth one at a time. The Elephant lives a hundred and 
twenty or a hundred and thirty years, though they have 
been known to live to the great age of four hundred. 
When Alexander the Great had conquered Porus, King 
