Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1854-07-24
[Price Two Cents.
GBe 9aiIp Spg.
MONDAY, JULY "a, 1854.


A person who has never seen wild elo-
plant can form no idea of his real character,
either mentally or physically. The unwieldy,
sleepy looking beast, who, penned up IN his
cage at the managarie, receives six-pence in
his trunk and turns around with difficulty to
deposite it in q box; whose mental powers
seem to be concentrated in the idea of receiv-
ing buns tossed into gaping mouth by child
ren's hands; this very beast may have come
from warhke stock. His sire may have been
the terror of district, pitiless highwayman,
whose soul thirsted for blood; who, lying in
wait in some thick bush, would rush upon
the unwary passer by, and know no pleasure
greater than that Of crushing his victim to a
shapeless mass beneath his feet.
have even heard people exclaim, upon
hearing anecdotes of elephant hunting, "Poor
thingsw Poor things, indeed! should like
to see the very person who thus expresses his
pity going at his best pace, with savage ele-
plant after him; give him a lawn to run upon,
if he likes, and see the elephant gaining foot
in every yard of the chase, f.e in his eyes,
and fury in his headlong cha ge; and would
not the flying gentleman who lately said 'pocr
thing" be thankful to the lucky bullet that
would save him from destruction There are
no animals more misunderstood than ele-
plants; they are naturally savage, wary, and
resengeful, displaying as great courage when
in wild state as any animal known. The
fact of their great natural sagacity rendeis
them more dangerous as foes Even when
tanned, there are many that are not safe for Il
stranger to approach and they are then only
kept iii awe by the sharp driving hook Of the
mahout.
Elephants are gregarious, and the average
number in herd Is about eight, although
they frequently form bodies of fifty and even
,ubt IN hnrd eicta af
very large proportion OF females, and they are
constantly met without single bull in their
number. / have seen some small herds form
ed exclusively of bulls, but this is very rare.
The bull is much larger than the female, and
is generally more savage, His habits FIRE Iuent-
ly induce him to prefer solitude to gregari-
Gus life. He then becomes doubly vicious.
He seldom strays from one locality, which he
haunts for many years. He becomes what is
termed ga rogue" lie then waylays the ma
tives, and, III fact becomes scourge to the
neighborhood, attacking the inoifenslye with
out the slightest provocation, carrying destruc-
ton into the natives paddy-felds, aud per-
fectly regardless Of night fires or the usual
precautions for soaring wild beasts. The dar-
ing pluck of these ''rogues' is only equalled
by Their extreme cunning. Endowed with
that wonderful power OF scent peculiar to ele-
plants, he travels in the day time do.on the
wind thus nothing can follow upon Bis track
without his knowledge.-IIe winds his enemy
as the cautious hunter advances noiselessly
upon his track, and he stands with ears
thrown forward, tail erect, trunk thrown high
i'll the air, with its distended tip pointed tothe
spot from which he winds the sllcnt but APP
preaching danger. Perfectly motionless does
he stand, like statue in ebony, the very
sence of attention, every nerve of scent and
hearing stretched to its cracking point; not a
muscle moves, not sound Of a rustling
branch against his rongh sides; he is mute
figure of wild and fierce eagerness. Mean
while, the wary tracker stoops to the grounds,
and with practised eye pierces the tangled
brushwood in search of his colossal feet. STILL
farther and farther he silently creeps forward,
when suddenly crash bursts through tho
jungle; the moment has arrived for the am
pushed charge, and the elephant is upon him.
-Baker's Rife and Hound in Ceylon.