PREPARATION
Who has seen an elephant? You have, Henry? Well, tell us something about him. He was very large. One of our barn doors is twelve feet high and six feet wide, and father said the elephant would just be able to go through that door. If he was in the school-room, his back would reach almost to the ceiling. His ears were bigger than the top of my desk. His trunk was twice as long as father's cane, and was nearly as big around at the upper end as a bag of wheat, and the lower end was as small as my leg is below the knee. His tusks were hard and white, one on each side of his trunk, and were longer than father's arm. His tail was small. It did not seem to be as long as one of his tusks. His legs were larger around than the trunk of the biggest apple tree in our orchard. His skin was something like a hog's skin, only thicker, and he had no hair. His whole body was a dirty, dark colour.
That is a fairly good description, Henry. You have helped us to picture a very large elephant.