INDIAN OR ASIATIC ELEPHANT.
(Elephas asiaticus.)
THE INDIAN ELEPHANT.
(Elephas indicus.)
The Indian Elephant (Elephas indicus) inhabits the wooded parts of Southern Asia from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean, and is found throughout Burmah, Siam and the Malay Peninsula. It differs from the African Elephant in having much smaller ears, a concave instead of convex forehead, smaller tusks, and in the possession of a finger on the end of the proboscis which, working against a tubercle on the lower part of the trunk, serves many of the purposes of the human hand.
The proboscis, which is an extension and enlargement of the nose and upper lip, is composed of as many as forty thousand interlacing muscles, and is capable of the most delicate and varied manipulation. At times it is used to strip twigs and leaves from overhanging trees, or again to uproot bamboo shoots or to pluck grass and plants from the ground, carrying all to the ever-grinding jaws behind. By sucking it full of water the Elephant may give himself a shower bath or squirt water into his mouth or even over people who offend him.
The presence of the trunk and tusks has greatly modified the cranium of the Elephant. Although a very intelligent animal, his brain is relatively small in proportion to his immense size. The great, rounded humps which crown an Elephant’s head are composed of bony air cells, and their function is to provide surface for the supporting muscles of the trunk. So thick are these bony processes that they will stop a rifle ball; and on the other hand Elephants have been shot through the skull without the least injury to the brain.
The tusks, which are often lacking in Asiatic Elephants, especially in the females, are the incisors of the upper jaw, grown straight out, and serve primarily as weapons, although in domesticated animals they are used to dig and lift and to carry heavy burdens. Besides these teeth the Elephant has four large molars, two in each jaw, and he is able to chew from four to eight hundred pounds of green fodder a day with them. In a wild state the Elephants wander about in bands through the forests, following their leader from feeding grounds to water, and concern themselves largely with eating and drinking and escaping from their enemies. The young weigh about two hundred pounds at birth, and attain to over eight thousand pounds at thirty years, when they have reached maturity. At sixty an Elephant is counted in his prime, and many live to be a hundred or even a hundred and fifty years old. Eleven feet is the extreme height of the Asiatic Elephant. His specific gravity is so great that in swimming rivers his whole body disappears below the surface; but this gives him no trouble, as he breathes by thrusting the tip of his trunk above the water and can surge up enough to get one eye out when he wishes to see where he is going.
The eyes are small and, probably on account of living in the forest so much, they are not very sharp-sighted. This defect is counterbalanced by very acute hearing and sense of smell. In browsing the Elephant is probably guided altogether by touch and his sense of smell; and in a dark forest even very sharp eyes are of little value either in selecting food or detecting enemies, especially in an animal with so short and heavy a neck.
The feet of an Elephant are great elastic cushions with which he passes noiselessly through the jungles. When he chooses to stand still it is almost impossible to distinguish his brown skin from the foliage with which he is surrounded. But an animal as large and strong as the Elephant does not need to conceal himself, except from man, his great enemy, and when a troop of Elephants wish to pass from one place to another they often charge through the jungles and forest, smashing down trees and vines and leaving a broad trail behind them. When disturbed or wounded by hunters they rush furiously through the thickets after their tormentors, and if they fail to catch and crush them in the first charge it has often happened that Elephants have returned and smelled them out as a dog scents a rabbit.
On account of the slow growth of young Elephants it has been found more satisfactory in India to catch wild Elephants than to breed them in captivity and wait fifteen years for the young to reach maturity and usefulness. The plan usually pursued is to build a huge corral in a tract of forest where wild Elephants roam, usually across an Elephant path. Where the path enters the corral a heavy gate is made and suspended over the way, so that it can be instantly dropped and fastened. Then, when a herd of wild Elephants wanders near enough to the trap on the gate side an army of native beaters is hastily gathered and the troop is surrounded on three sides. Each beater is provided with a tom-tom or torch, and in the confusion of shouting and torch-waving the whole herd is driven into the enclosure. At first they charge the stockade wildly, and the natives rush from side to side, resisting their attacks with fire and uproar. When at last they stand huddled together in the middle of the enclosure tame Elephants are driven in and allowed to mix freely with the wild ones. Cautiously they single out an Elephant, surround him and hold him in place, while men called noosers slip quietly down from the backs of the tame Elephants and fasten strong, soft ropes about his feet, after which he is marched out of the corral between two Elephants and tamed to work as they work, carrying heavy loads, dragging and piling timber, or perhaps marching in the splendid processions of Eastern kings.
Dane Coolidge.