It Is A Common
Practice With The Elephant To Thrust His Teeth Under The Roots Of
Such Shrubs And Bushes As Grow In The More Dry And Elevated Parts Of
The Country, Where The Soil Is Shallow.
These bushes he easily
overturns, and feeds on the roots, which are in general more tender
and juicy than
The hard, woody branches or the foliage; but when the
teeth are partly decayed by age, and the roots more firmly fixed,
the great exertions of the animal in this practice frequently cause
them to break short. At Kamalia I saw two teeth, one a very large
one, which were found in the woods, and which were evidently broken
off in this manner. Indeed, it is difficult otherwise to account
for such a large proportion of broken ivory as is daily offered for
sale at the different factories, for when the elephant is killed in
hunting, unless he dashes himself over a precipice, the teeth are
always extracted entire.
There are certain seasons of the year when the elephants collect
into large herds, and traverse the country in quest of food or
water; and as all that part of the country to the north of the Niger
is destitute of rivers, whenever the pools in the woods are dried up
the elephants approach towards the banks of that river. Here they
continue until the commencement of the rainy season, in the months
of June or July, and during this time they are much hunted by such
of the Bambarrans as have gunpowder to spare.
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