In Ceylon, The Elephant
Seeks The Shade Of Thick Forests At The Rising Of The Sun, In Which He
Rests Until About 5 P.M., When He Wanders Forth Upon The Plains.
In
Africa, the country being generally more open, the elephant remains
throughout the day either beneath a solitary tree, or exposed to the sun
in the vast prairies, where the thick grass attains a height of from
nine to twelve feet.
The general food of the African elephant consists
of the foliage of trees, especially of mimosas. In Ceylon, although
there are many trees that serve as food, the elephant nevertheless is an
extensive grass-feeder. The African variety, being almost exclusively a
tree-feeder, requires his tusks to assist him in procuring food. Many of
the mimosas are flat-headed, about thirty feet high, and the richer
portion of the foliage confined to the crown; thus the elephant, not
being able to reach to so great a height, must overturn the tree to
procure the coveted food. The destruction caused by a herd of African
elephants in a mimosa forest is extraordinary; and I have seen trees
uprooted of so large a size, that I am convinced no single elephant
could have overturned them. I have measured trees four feet six inches
in circumference, and about thirty feet high, uprooted by elephants. 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 elephants,
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 congregate 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 24 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.
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