Only two existing species of E. are certainly known,' the Indian (E. Indicus) and the African (E. Africanus), although differences have recently been observed in the E. of Sumatra, which may perhaps entitle it to be ranked as a distinct species. Elephants are found in all parts of Africa, from the Sahara southwards, where wood and water are sufficiently abundant; also throughout India and the south-eastern parts of Asia, and in some of the tropical Asiatic islands. They extends northwards to the Himalaya; and Chittagong and Tiperah vie with Ceylon in the superior excellence of the elephants which they produce. The Indian E. is distinguished by a comparatively high oblong head, with a concave forehead; whilst the African has a round head and convex fore head. The cars of the African E. are much larger than those of the Indian, covering the whole shoulder, and descending on the legs. A marked distinction of the two species is also found in the molar teeth; those of the Indian E. exhibiting wavy parallel transverse ridges; whilst those of the African species have the divisions of the crown of the tooth fewer, broader, and lozenge-shaped.
Elephants live in herds, not generally numerous, but several herds often congregate together in the same forest or at the same place of drinking. Each herd has a leader, generally the largest and most powerful animal. The leader seems to exercise much control over the movements of the herd, gives the alarm in case of danger, and seems to examine and decide for the whole herd as to the safety of proceeding in any par ticular direction. On account of his tusks, the leader is very often the animal against which the efforts of the hunter arc directed; but the rest of the herd do their utmost to protect him, and when driven to extremity, they place him in the center, and crowd so eagerly to the front of him that some of them must often be shot ere he can be reached. A family resemblance is usually very visible among the elephants of the same herd; some herds are distinguished by greater stature, and others by more bulky form and stronger limbs; seine by particularly large tusks, sonic by slight peculiarities of the trunk, etc. In the East Indies, distinctions of this kind have long been carefully noticed, and particular names are given to elephants according to them, some being considered as high-caste, and others as low-caste elephants. An E. which by any cause has been separated from its herd, seems never to be admitted into another, and these solitary ele phants are particularly troublesome, in their depredations exhibiting an audacity which the herds never exhibit; they are also savage and much dreaded, whilst from a herd of elephants danger is scarcely apprehended. The E. is generally one of the most inoffensive of animals, although in a state of domestication, it shows, as is well known, a power both of remembering and resenting an injury.
The favorite haunts of wild elephants are in the depths of forests—particularly in mountainous regions—where they browse on branches, and from which they issue chiefly in the cool of the night to pasture in the more open grounds. They are ready to plunder rice or other grain-fields, if not deterred by fences, of which, fortunately, they have, in general, an unaccountable dread, even although rather imaginary than real. A fence of mere reeds will keep them out of fields, where, as soon as the grain is removed, they enter by the gaps of the fence, and may be seen gleaning among the stubble.
When the E. eats grass, "nothing can be more graceful than the ease with which, before conveying it to his mouth, lie beats the earth from its roots by striking it on his fore-leg." A cocoa-nut is first rolled under foot, to detach the outer bark, then stripped
of the fibrous husk, and finally crushed between the grinders, when the fresh milk is swallowed with evident relish. The fruit of the Palmyra palm is another favorite food of elephants, and they seem to have an instinctive knowledge of the time of its ripening. Sugar-canes are also a favorite food; indeed, elephants are very fond of sweet things. Those which are brought to Britain are generally fed on hay and carrots. The amount of daily food necessary for the E. in a state of domestication may be stated, on an average, at about 200 lbs. in weight.
Elephants delight in abundance of water, and enter it very freely, often remaining in it for a considerable time and with great evident enjoyment. They sometimes swim with not only the body but the head under water, the only part eleVated above it being the extremity of the trunk.
The habits of the African E. appear in no important respect to differ from those of the Indian elephant. It is the latter only that is at the present day domesticated; but it is certain that the African species was anciently domesticated, and the figures on many Roman medals attest it.
Elephants rarely breed in a state of domestication, although, a few years ago, the birth of an E. took place in the zoological gardens of London, an occasion of much interest not only to the scientific but to the general public. They are generally tamed within a few modthS after they are capthred; doine degree of teing employed, at first, which, however, as soon as the animal has begun to respect the power of man, is exchanged for kindness and gentleness of treatment. Elephants intended for domes tication are captured in various ways. It was formerly common to take them in pit falls, but in this way they were often much injured. Another method frequently practised is by the aia of tame elephants. Male elephants chiefly are captured in this way, the decoy elephants employed being females, trained for the purpose. With these the hunters very cautiously approach the animal they mean to capture, and he generally permits them to come up to him, and is so pleased to make the acquaintance of the female, that lie takes no notice of their riders and other human attendants. Two of the females take their places, one on each side of him, and whilst be is occupied with them, men, the profession of whose lives it is, and who display a wonderful expertness in the work, contrive to get beneath their bodies, and to pass ropes round the legs of the intended captive. His two hind-legs are fastened together by 6 or 8 ropes in the form of the figure 8, another rope keeping them tight at the intersections, and a strong cable with a running-noose is attached to each hind-leg. About twenty minutes are usually spent in fixing the necessary ropes, profound silence being maintained if the process goes on unobserved, or some of the other hunters distracting the attention of the E. from those who are engaged in this work; and when at last, becoming sensible of his danger, lie tries to retreat, an opportunity is soon found of tying him, by means of the long cables which trail behind him, to some tree strong enough for the purpose. His fury then becomes ungovernable, and he makes violent and prodigious efforts to get free, throwing himself on the ground, and twisting himself into the most extraordinary positions. It is not until lie has thoroughly exhausted himself, and begins to suffer severely from fatigue, thirst, and hunger, that the next steps are taken towards taming him and making him a willing servant of man.