the elephant.

love of solitude, and pusillanimity—miraculous escape of an english officer—sagacity of the elephant in ascending hills—organisation of the stomach—the elephant’s trunk—use of the tusks still problematical—the rogue-elephant—sagacity of the elephant—the african elephant—tamed in ancient times—south african elephant-hunting—hair-breadth escapes—abyssinian elephant-hunters—cutting-up of an elephant—the asiatic elephant—vast numbers destroyed in ceylon—major rogers—elephant-catchers—their amazing dexterity—the corral—decoy elephants—their astonishing sagacity—great mortality among the captured elephants—their services.

of a mild and peaceful disposition, the image of strength tempered by good nature, the elephant loves the shady forest and the secluded lake. disliking the glare of the midday sun, he spends the day in the thickest woods, devoting the night to excursions and to the luxury of the bath, his great and innocent delight. though the earth trembles under his strides, yet, like the whale, he is timid; but this timidity is accounted for by his small range of vision. anything unusual strikes him with terror, and the most trivial objects and incidents, from being imperfectly discerned, excite his suspicions. to this peculiarity an english officer, chased and seized by an elephant432 which he had slightly wounded, owed his almost miraculous escape. the animal had already raised its fore-foot to trample him to death, when, its forehead being caught at the instant by the tendrils of a climbing plant which had suspended itself from the branches above, it suddenly turned and fled.37 an instinctive consciousness that his superior bulk exposes him to danger from sources that might be harmless in the case of lighter animals, is probably the reason why the elephant displays a remarkable reluctance to face the slightest artificial obstruction on his passage. even when enraged by a wound, he will hesitate to charge his assailant across an intervening hedge, suspecting it may conceal a snare. unlike the horse, he never gets accustomed to the report of fire-arms, and thus no longer plays an active part in battle as in the times of pyrrhus and hannibal, but serves in a modern campaign merely as a common beast of burden, or for the transport of heavy artillery.

to make up for his restricted vision, his neck being so formed as to render him incapable of directing the range of his eye much above the level of his head, he is endowed with a remarkable power of smell, and a delicate sense of hearing, which serve to apprise him of the approach of danger.

although, from their huge bulk, the elephants might be supposed to prefer a level country, yet, in asia at least, the regions where they most abound are all hilly and mountainous. in ceylon, particularly, there is not a range so high as to be inaccessible to them, and so sure-footed are they that, provided there be solidity to sustain their weight, they will climb rocks, and traverse ledges where even a mule dare not venture.

dr. hooker admired the judicious winding of the elephant’s path in the himalayas, and sir j. e. tennent describes the sagacity which he displays in laying out roads, or descending abrupt banks, as almost incredible. ‘his first manœuvre is to kneel down close to the edge of the declivity, placing his chest to the ground, one fore-leg is then cautiously passed a short way down the slope, and if there is no natural protection to afford a firm footing, he speedily forms one by stamping into the soil if moist, or kicking out a footing if dry. this point gained, the other fore-leg is brought down in the same way, and performs433 the same work, a little in advance of the first, which is thus at liberty to move lower still. then, first one and then the second of the hind-legs is carefully drawn over the side, and the hind-feet in turn occupy the resting-places previously used and left by the fore ones. the course, however, in such precipitous ground is not straight from top to bottom, but slopes along the face of the bank, descending till the animal gains the level below.’

the stomach of the elephant, like that of the camel or the llama, is provided with a cavity, serving most probably as a reservoir for water against the emergencies of thirst; but the most remarkable feature in the organisation of the ‘leviathan of the land’ is his wonderful trunk, which, uniting the flexibility of the serpent with a giant’s power, almost rivals the human hand by its manifold uses and exquisite delicacy of touch.

‘nearly eight feet in length, and stout in proportion to the massive size of the whole animal, this miracle of nature,’ as it is well expressed by mr. broderip, ‘at the volition of the elephant will uproot trees or gather grass; raise a piece of artillery or pick up a comfit; kill a man or brush off a fly. it conveys the food to the mouth, and pumps up the enormous draughts of water, which, by its recurvature, are turned into and driven down the capacious throat, or showered over the body. its length supplies the place of a long neck, which would have been incompatible with the support of the large head and weighty tusks.’ a glance at the head of the elephant will show the thickness and strength of the trunk at its insertion; and the massy arched bones of the face and thick muscular neck are admirably adapted for supporting and working this incomparable instrument, which is at the same time the elephant’s most formidable defensive weapon, for, first prostrating any minor assailant by means of his trunk, he then crushes him by the pressure of his enormous weight.

the use of the elephant’s tusks is less clearly defined. though they are frequently described as warding off the attacks of the tiger and rhinoceros, often securing the victory by one blow, which transfixes the assailant to the earth, it is perfectly obvious, both from their almost vertical position and the difficulty of raising the head above the level of the shoulder, that they were never designed for weapons of attack. no doubt434 they may prove of great assistance in digging up roots, but that they are far from indispensable is proved by their being but rarely seen in the females, and by their almost constant absence in the ceylon elephant, where they are generally found reduced to mere stunted processes.