back, they completely cover the shoulder s; they are
also entirely different in shape from those of the
Indian species.’ When an African bull elephant advances
in full charge with his ears cocked, his head
measures about fourteen feet from the tip of one. ear
to that of the other, in a direct line across the forehead.
I have frequently cut off the ear to form a
taat, upon which I have slept beneath the shade of a
tree, while my people divided the animal.
The back of the Indian elephant- is exceedingly
convex ; that of the African is exactly the reverse,
and the concavity behind the shoulders is succeeded by
a peculiarity in the sudden rise' of the spine above the
hips. The two species are not only distinct in certain
peculiarities of form, but they differ in their habits.
The Indian elephant dislikes the sun, and invariably
retreats to thick shady forests at sunrise ; but T have
constantly found the African species enjoying themselves
in the burning sun in the hottest hours of the
■day, among plains of withered grass, many miles
from a: jungle. The African is more active than the
Indian,, and not only is faster in his movements;
but is more. capable of enduring long marches, as
proved by the great distances through which it travels
to seek its food in the native’s cornfields. In all
countries, the bulls' are fiercer than the females.
I cannot see much difference in character between
Indian and the African species; it is the fashion
for some people to' assert that, the elephant is an
innocent and harmless creature, that like the giraffe,
it is almost a sin to destroy. I can only say that,
during eight years’ experience in Ceylon, and nearly
five years’ in Africa, I have found that elephants
are the most formidable animals with which a
sportsman has to contend. The African species is
far more dangerous than the Indian, as the forehead O '
shot can never be trusted; therefore the hunter must
await the charge with a conviction that, his bullet
will fail to kill.
The African elephant is about a foot higher than
the average of the Indian species. The bulls of
the former are about ten feet six inches at the
shoulder; the females are between nine feet and
nine feet six. Of course, there are many bulls that
exceed this height, and I have seen some few of
both species that might equal twelve feet, but those
are the exceptional Goliahs.
The tusks of elephants vary considerably, and
there appears to be no rule to determine a reason
for their size and quality. In Abyssinia. and Taka,
a single tusk of a bull elephant seldom exceeds
forty pounds, nor do they average more than twenty-
five, but in Central Africa they average about forty,
and I have seen them upwards of one hundred and
fifty pounds. The largest that I have had the good
fortune to bag, was eighty pounds, the fellow-tusk
was slightly below seventy. Elephants invariably
.use one tusk in preference, as we use the right
hand ;• thus it is difficult to obtain an exact pair, as
the Hadam (or servant), as the Arabs call the