The African elephants are said also to be larger as they dwell nearer to the Equator; and from this it would appear that the elephant is essentially a tropical animal, and thrives best in the climate of the torrid zone.
The Asiatic elephant is found wild as well as domesticated in nearly all the Indian countries, as also in many of the large islands. Its range northward is bounded by the lower hills of the Himalayas; and among these, especially through the saul forests, these huge animals roam about in herds, each herd being under the guidance or leadership of an old male, or “bull,” as he is termed. As an elephant brings a considerable sum of money, even in India, these are eagerly hunted; and their capture is accomplished by decoying them into a pound or enclosure constructed for the purpose, where ropes are attached to them, and then tied to the neighbouring trees. The decoy used is a tame elephant, that has been already trained for the purpose.
There are in India, as well as in Africa, certain old bull elephants that lead a solitary life, and that are scarcely ever seen in company with the herds. These bachelors are usually of a morose and fierce disposition, and when one of them is captured it requires all the skill of the hunters to keep clear of danger. These wild bulls are larger and stronger than the common kind, and so untamable in their ferocity that even when captured no use can be made of them, since they will die rather than submit to being trained. They are called Goondahs by the people of Hindostau, and by English hunters Rogues or Rovers.
The African elephant next merits attention. There is no difficulty in distinguishing this species from any of the Indian varieties. The immensely large ears constitute a marked characteristic of the former, which at once becomes recognisable. Other points of difference are the greater convexity of the forehead or skull and the larger size of the tusks; though this last point of distinction is not always to be depended upon, since there are Indian elephants with tusks of similar dimensions. Generally, however, the African elephants have the largest “ivories.”
In point of bulk the Asiatic species has been considered superior; but this belief may not be correct. Certain circumstances should be taken into account. The Asiatic elephant is living in a domesticated state, and this may have produced a greater size, as it does in the case of most other quadrupeds. Another circumstance: the African elephants of our collections have been mostly obtained from the Cape, or the regions contiguous to it. But it is now known that in the countries nearer to the equator there exists a much larger kind, that appears to be quite as bulky as any of the Asiatic varieties.
The height of the elephant has been much exaggerated by travellers—some having been described as measuring eighteen feet from the foot to the top of the shoulder! An authority on this subject, who measured the largest he could meet with in different parts of India, found none that stood over twelve feet, and this appears to be the actual height of the very biggest of elephants.
The African elephants have not been tamed—at least not in modern times; but it is certain that the elephants used by the Carthaginians in their wars with the Romans were of this species; and also that African elephants were the species exhibited by Caesar and Pompey in the Roman arena.
In a wild state the African elephant has a wide range—from the Cape country on the south to Senegal on the western side, throughout the whole of Central Africa, and along the oriental coast to the valley of the Nile; but it is not very certain whether the elephant of the eastern countries of Africa is the African species or a variety of the Asiatic kind. The African elephant is said to be fiercer than that of Asia; but this is a doubtful statement; and perhaps the habits of the two do not materially differ, farther than might be expected from a difference of climate, food, and other external circumstances.