In former times, when the elephant could be employ ed in battle, a sort of castle was erected on his back, from which missile weapons were thrown ; and his sides were armed with sharp edged instruments, to en able him to force his way through the opposing ranks. But since the invention of gunpowder, this animal has become useless in battle. The fire and the smoke ter rify him. But he is still of great utility in transporting baggage of all sorts, and, as a beast of burden, exceeds all others in strength and intelligence. Were it not for the great quantity of food necessary to his subsistence, he would be found a very valuable addition to our western colonies, where land carriage is difficult and expensive.
With regard to the senses of the elephant, he clearly appears to possess, in great perfection, all the five ge nerally enumerated. His eye is quick, and he secs at a considerable distance. His large ears, which he can move backwards and forwards at pleasure, give an ad ditional acuteness to his organs of hearing. Although his skin seems hard, yet insects often annoy him ; and the termination of his trunk possesses a delicacy of touch equal to that which belongs to the tips of the human fingers. The sense of smell is most probahly the most acute of all the other senses of the elephant. When hunting him, the sportsman must be careful to keep on the lee side, otherwise the elephant would soon discover his enemy, and make him suffer for his rashness. Thus Sparrman relates the adventure of one Dirk Marcus, who nearly suffered in the chase. " Once (says this adventurer) in my younger days, when, from a hill co vered with bushes near a wood, I was endeavouring to steal upon an elephant to the leeward of me, on a sud den, I heard from the lee-side a frightful cry or noise ; and although at that time I was one of the boldest ele phant hunters in the whole country, I must confess that I was in a terrible quaking, insomuch that I be lieve the hairs on my head stood quite erect. At the same time, it appeared to me as though I had had seve ral pails of water thrown over me ; without my being able to stir from the spot, before I saw this huge creature so near me that he was almost on the point of laying hold of me with his trunk. At that instant, I fortunately had the presence of mind to take to my legs, and to my no small astonishment, found myself so swift, that I thought I hardly touched the ground. The beast, however, was in the mean time pretty close to my heels, but having at last got to the wood, and crept away from him under the trees, the elephant could not easily follow me. With respect to the place I was in at first, I am certain that the animal could not see me, and conse quently that lie first found me out by the scent." In examining the intellectual qualities of the ele phant, much caution is requisite in the admission of evidence, as there appears to be a strong desire to as cribe to this animal powers of mind, proportional to his physical strength. 'nuts he has been praised for uncommon modesty, in opposition to historical evi dence, and without the testimony of a single fact. His lofty independence has been extolled, although he is, unquestionably, the most tameable and the most servile brute in the creation ; and, in the Hindoo mythology, he is made the representative of the God of Wisdom. The vulgar are ever accustomed to attribute stupidity to animals which have long snouts, as cranes and wood cocks; but when some circumstances tend to elevate the facial line, without augmenting the capacity of the cranium, we fancy we see, in animals of that de scription, a peculiar air of intelligence. This last cir
cumstance happens in the case of the elephant, where the frontal sinuses swell the cranium to such a degree, that they elevate the facial angle much beyond what the proportion of the brain would require. While the brain in man forms .Ad part of his whole body, in the elephant it only forms part.
It has been stated, that the sagacity of the elephant is so great, and his memory so retentive, that, when once he has received an injury, or been in bondage, and afterwards escapes, it is not possible, by any art, to en trap him. The following fact, to which Mr C. Scott was an eye witness, will spew how unfounded such spe culations are, in which some pseudo-naturalists have in dulged: "In June 1787," (says Mr C. Scott), " Jattra Mun gul, a male elephant taken the year before, was tra velling in company with some other elephants, towards Chittigong, laden with a tent and some baggage, for our accommodation in the journey. Having come up on a tiger's track, which elephants discover readily by the smell, he took fright and ran off to the woods, in spite of the efforts of his driver. On entering the wood, the driver saved himself by springing from the ele phant and clinging to the branch of a tree, under which he was passing. When the elephant got rid of his driver, he soon contrived to shake off his load. As soon as he ran away, a trained female was dispatched after him, but could not get up in time to prevent his escape ; she, however, brought back his driver, and the load he had thrown off, and we proceeded without any hope of ever seeing him again. Eighteen months after this, when a herd of elephants had been taken, and had remained several days in the inclasure, till they were enticed into the outlet, then tied and led out in the usual manner, one of the drivers, viewing a male •ele phant very attentively, declared he resembled the one which had run away. This excited the curiosity of every one to go and look at him; but when any per son came near, the animal struck at them with his trunk, and, in every respect, appeared as wild and out rageous as any of the other elephants. At length an old hunter, coming and examining him narrowly, de clared he was the very elephant that had made his es cape about eighteen months before. Confident of this, he boldly rode up to him, on a tame elephant, and or dered him to lie down, pulling him by the ear at the same time. The animal seemed quite taken by sur prise, and instantly obeyed the Ivorcl of command, with as much quickness as the ropes with which he was tied permitted; uttering, at the same time, a peculiar shrill squeak through his trunk, as he had formerly been known to do, by which he was immediately recogni sed by every person who had ever been acquainted with this peculiarity. Thus we see that this elephant, for the space of eight or ten days, during which he was in the enclosure, and even while he was tying in the out let, appeared equally wild and fierce as the boldest ele phant then taken, so that he was not even suspected of having been formerly taken, till he was conducted from the outlet. The moment, however, he was ad dressed in a commanding tone, the recollection of his former obedience seemed to rush upon him at once, and, without any difficulty, he permitted a driver to be seated on his neck, who, in a few days, made him as tractable as ever." We shall conclude this account of the sagacity of the elephant, by quoting a few of those stories, which have been commonly related, as illustrative of the degree of intellect which he is supposed to possess, for the pur pose of gratifying the general reader.