The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-08-04
Elephants and Their WAYS.

Twice around an elephants fore-foot
gives his height to within an inch or
two. As regards age, looking to their
peculiar dentition and other circum.
stances, Mr.. Sanderson thinks it by no
means improbable that elephants live to
$50 or 200 years. No one has ever, ap-
parently, seen the remains of d dead
elephant, and this circumstance Is sd
marked as to have given rise to the be-
lief among some wild tribes that wild
elephants never die while others be-
heve that there is place unseen by hu-
man eyes to which they retire to end
their days. In Mr.. Sanderson's wander
ings for years through elephant jungles
he has not only never seen the remains
of an elephant that had died a natural
death, but he has never met any one
among the jungle tribes or profess
sional hunters who had. The Cingalese
have superstition tnat on feeling the
approach of dissolution the elephant re-
tires to a solitary valley and there re-
signs himself to death. There is SINH
lar belief in India, but Mr.. Sanderson
shows that it is untenable.
One would not expect to hear that ele-
phants are expert swimmers, though
feet wide than they can dance a horn
pipe. Such, however, seems to be the
case, from the fact that large numbers
of them are annually sent across the
tideway of the Ganges between Dacca
and BafrackpUfe, and are sometimes six
consecutive hotirs without touching the
bottom. Mr.. Sanderson has seen an ele=
plant swim river 800 yards wide with
his hind legs tied together. They are
sometimes drowned, apparently by be-
ing attacked with cramps or with fit.
The belief that wild elephants have
decreased in India is shown by Mr.. Sam
derson to be incorrect. The records of
the past fifty years attest that there is
no diminution in the numbers now OBJ
tainable in Bengal, while in Southern
India elephants have become so numer-
OTIS of late years that they are annually
appearing in places where they have
never been heard of before. In fact,
Mr.. Sanderson thinks that unless some
thing be done the rifle will have to be
used to protect the ryots or tracts bor-
dering upon elephant jungles. To give
an idea of the number of wild elephants
In some parts of India the lecturer stated
that during the past three years 5O3 ele-
phants have been captured by the Decca
Klieddah establishment in tract OF
country forty miles long by twenty
broad in the Caro- hills, while not less
than !, 900 were met with during the
hunting operations.
When an elephant chases the men
they betake themselves to the shelter oi
tree-trunks, bamboo clumps or long
grass, and it is astonishing to see
how frequently they escape uninjured.
have known many cases of men stand.
ing against tree or hidingin tufts of long
grass within couple of yards Of ele.
plants that were pausing in indecision
without being discovered, though the
elephants were perfectly aware Of thei1
close proximity, as they kicked up the
ground in anger and then made off. Ir
such cases the slightest movement
would have led to the hunters being in.
stantly trampled to death. Men are
frequently killed, of course, but they
are almost always young hands who are
learning. I saw one such make mar
row escape. He ran from an elephant
and climbed tree the elephant butted
the trunk and the man fell down, bu,
his pursuer was so astonished at the
sight that she fled at once.-Londor
(J}Obe