THE ELEPHANTS, RHINOCEROSES, HIPPOPOTAMUSES, AND WILD SWINE
There are three reasons, perhaps, why elephants interest us so greatly.
The first is their enormous size. They are by far the largest of all the
animals which live upon land. "Jumbo," for instance, the famous African
elephant that we in the United States saw in the last century, was
nearly twelve feet in height, and weighed more than six tons. A height
of ten feet is quite common.
Next, there is their wonderful docility. When wild, no doubt, they are
often very fierce and savage. Yet they are easily tamed; and it is a
strange sight to see one of these giant creatures walking about with a
load of children upon its back, and meekly obeying the lightest word of
a man whom it could crush to death in a moment by simply placing its
foot upon him.
And then, once more, there is that marvelous trunk, so strong that it
can tear down great branches from the trees, and yet so delicate that it
can pick up the smallest scrap of food from the ground. When the
elephant wishes to feed, it seizes the food with its trunk and pokes it
into its mouth. When it wishes to drink, it fills the same organ with
water, and then squirts the contents down its throat. If it should be
hot, it can take a shower-bath by squirting water over its body instead.
And it breathes through its trunk and smells with it as well. So this
wonderful member is used for a great many different purposes.
As it is so valuable, the elephant takes very great care of its trunk,
always curling it up out of harm's way, for example, if it should find
itself in any danger.
Two different kinds of elephants are known, one of which is found in
Africa and the other in Asia.
THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT
You can easily tell the African elephant by the great size of his ears,
which are so large that a man might almost hide himself behind one of
them. "Jumbo's" ear, indeed, measured no less than five feet five inches
from side to side. When the animal is excited these enormous ears stand
out at right angles to the head. Then the legs are much longer than
those of the Indian elephant, while the trunk, instead of having one
finger-like projection at the tip, has two, one in front and one behind.
Both the male and female animal, as a rule, possess tusks, while in
Indian elephants these weapons are only occasionally present in the
male, and hardly ever in the female.
The tusks of the male elephant, however, are always much larger than
those of his mate, and sometimes they grow to a very great size. A
length of nine feet is not very uncommon, while tusks ten feet long, or
even more, have sometimes been recorded. Generally one tusk is several
inches shorter than the other, having been worn down in digging for the
roots on which the animal is fond of feeding; for elephants seem to dig
with one of the tusks only, and never with both.
The ivory of which these tusks are composed is so valuable that the
African elephant has been most terribly persecuted, and in many
districts where it was formerly plentiful it has disappeared altogether.
It lives as a rule in herds, which seek the thickest parts of the forest
during the day, and come out at night to search for food and water. And
even a small herd of elephants will sometimes do a great deal of damage,
for they will uproot trees eighteen or even twenty feet high, in order
to feed upon the foliage of the upper branches, or snap off the stems
quite close to the ground. When the tree is a large one, it is said that
two elephants will unite in breaking it down.
You would think that a herd of elephants would be very conspicuous even
in the thick forest, wouldn't you? Yet all hunters unite in saying that
as long as they remain still it is almost impossible to see them, while
they make their way through the bushes so silently that even
when they are moving it is not at all easy to hear them.
THE INDIAN ELEPHANT
This elephant seldom exceeds nine feet in height at the shoulder,
although larger examples are sometimes found. It lives in the thick
jungle in herds of forty or fifty, which sometimes wander by night into
cultivated ground, and do terrible damage to the crops. Now and then,
however, a male elephant will live entirely alone. These solitary
animals are always very fierce, and will rush out and attack any one who
may pass by. For this reason they are known as "rogues."
The Indian elephant is very often tamed, and is taught to perform all
kinds of heavy work, such as dragging timber or piling logs. It is also
used for riding, a howdah with several seats being placed upon its back,
while it is guided by a native driver, called a mahout, who sits upon
its neck and directs its movements by means of a spiked hook. It is
largely employed, too, in hunting the tiger. But for this purpose it has
to be most carefully trained, for elephants are naturally very much
afraid of tigers, and even after a long course of instruction will
sometimes take to flight when the furious animal springs at them with
open jaws and eyes flaming with rage.
Elephants in India are mostly captured by being driven into a large
keddah, or enclosure of stout posts, from which they are unable to make
their escape. In this way a large herd of the huge animals are often
taken prisoners together.
Next in size to the elephants are the great creatures known as
rhinoceroses, which are found both in Africa and in Asia. Five different
kinds are known altogether, but we shall only be able to tell you about
two.
THE INDIAN RHINOCEROS
In this animal the hide falls into great folds upon the shoulders and in
front of the thighs, while there are smaller folds upon the neck and the
hind quarters. The sides of the body are marked with a large
number of round projections, sometimes as much as an inch in diameter,
which look very much like the rivets in the iron plates of a boiler.
When fully grown this animal stands rather over five feet in height at
the shoulder.
The Indian rhinoceros has only one horn, which is generally about a foot
long. This horn, strange to say, is not connected in any way with the
bones of the skull, but is really a growth from the skin, although there
is a bony prominence under it on which it is set. By means of a sharp
knife, it could be cut away without difficulty. But it is a very
formidable weapon, and some of the rhinoceroses with longer horns have
been known to rush at a mounted hunter with lowered head, and then to
strike upward with such terrible force that the horn has actually
pierced the horse's body, and entered the thigh of the rider. Sometimes
a rhinoceros will rush along with its head bent downward so far that the
horn cuts a deep furrow in the ground.
This animal is chiefly found in the swampy parts of the great
grass-jungles of India. It is very fond of taking a mud-bath, from which
it comes out with its whole body thickly caked with clay. This serves as
a great protection from flies and other insects, which persecute it
terribly, forcing their way under the thick folds of hide at the
shoulders and thighs, where the skin is thinner, and driving it nearly
mad by the irritation of their bites.
In spite of its great size this rhinoceros is a rather timid animal, and
nearly always runs away when it is attacked. But if it is wounded or
brought to bay it becomes a terrible foe, charging with fury again and
again, and striking savagely with its horn, and sometimes with its tusks
as well.
The African rhinoceroses are without the folds of skin which are found
in the Indian species, and have two horns on the head instead of one.
Sometimes these horns are of very great length. We have seen a
walking-stick that might serve a very tall man, which was cut from the
core of such a horn.
THE COMMON RHINOCEROS
This is the better known of the two African species, and is found in
almost all the wilder districts from Abyssinia to Cape Colony. It lives
in the thickest parts of the forest, breaking away the bushes and the
lower branches of the trees so as to leave a clear space perhaps fifteen
or twenty feet in diameter. These retreats are called rhinoceros-houses,
and the animals remain in them during the heat of the day.
The common rhinoceros is wonderfully quick and active for so large and
heavy an animal, and is said to be able to overtake a man riding a fast
horse. But it does not seem, as a rule, to be savage in disposition, and
very seldom attacks a human foe. One great hunter tells us that although
many rhinoceroses have advanced toward him to within twenty or thirty
yards, they always ran away if he threw stones at them, or even if he
waved his arms and shouted. When wounded, however, they will sometimes
attack furiously. But they never think of looking for their enemy in a
tree, and if he can climb on to a bough even three or four feet from the
ground he is perfectly safe.
THE HYRAX
Oddly enough, one of the animals most closely related to the
rhinoceroses is much more like a rabbit, and actually lives in burrows
in the ground. This is the hyrax, or coney, as it is called in the
Bible, which almost anybody would mistake at first sight for a rodent.
Yet when one comes to look at its front teeth he sees at once that
instead of having flat, sharp edges, like a chisel, they are pointed;
and these teeth do not continue to grow all through life, like those of
the rodent animals. And besides this there are several other points in
its bodily structure which show us that it really is a relation of the
rhinoceroses.
About fourteen different kinds of hyrax are known, some of which are
found in Africa, and the others in Arabia, Syria, and Palestine. They
all live in rocky districts high up on the sides of mountains, a great
number making their burrows close to one another, just as rabbits do in
a warren. They are very active and sure of foot, and scamper up and down
the sides of the rocks with the greatest ease. It is difficult to watch
them, however, for they are so shy that they will not leave
their holes if they think that any one can see them, while they only
come out to feed at night and very early in the morning. Sometimes, it
is true, they will lie out on the rocks during the day, enjoying the hot
sunshine. But one of them is always appointed to act as a sentinel, and
as soon as he notices the slightest sign of danger he gives the alarm,
and then they all disappear into their holes.
[Illustration: PACHYDERMS AND TAPIR.
1. African Elephant. 2. African Rhinoceros.
3. East African Hippopotamus. 4. Malayan Tapir.]
TAPIRS
Very odd-looking animals are the tapirs, which are found both in Central
and South America, and also in some of the islands of the Malay
Archipelago. They are about as large as donkeys, but look more like very
big pigs. On the neck is a short, stiff, upright mane of black hairs,
and the upper lip is lengthened out into a kind of trunk, something like
that of an elephant, but on a very much smaller scale, and without the
odd finger-like organ at the tip.
These curious animals live in thick forests near the banks of great
rivers, and come out from their retreats chiefly by night. By constantly
traveling backward and forward they make regular pathways through the
thickets. They swim very well, and are fond of gamboling in the water,
and also of rolling about on the muddy banks. But they are so timid that
it is very difficult to watch them; and it is said that they will run
away in terror from even a tiny dog.
But if a mother tapir thinks that her little one is in danger she seems
to lose all sense of fear, and will even dash at a man and try to knock
him down. And if she succeeds she will trample upon him and even bite
him, just like the wild swine.
In America the great enemy of the tapirs is the jaguar, which springs
upon them unexpectedly, and generally succeeds in tearing them to the
ground. But sometimes they manage to escape either by rushing at once
into the very thickest bushes, which sweep away their terrible enemy
from his hold, or else by plunging into the water, when he is obliged to
loose his grip for fear of being drowned.
The American tapirs are sooty brown in color, but that which is found in
the Malayan Islands is white on the sides and the hinder parts of the
body, while the young animal is spotted and streaked with white all
over.
THE HIPPOPOTAMUS
The hippopotamus, or river-horse, is perhaps the most awkward and
ungainly animal in the world. His huge body almost touches the ground as
he waddles clumsily along, while his short stout legs are set so far
apart that they actually make a double track through the herbage. So you
can easily understand that when a herd of twenty or thirty of these
enormous creatures find their way into a plantation they do terrible
damage, eating a good deal, and trampling down far more than they eat.
Then what tremendous mouths they have! When they open their jaws wide,
their heads really look as if they were splitting in two right down into
their necks. And they have a most formidable array of tusks and teeth,
arranged in such a manner that they mow down the herbage almost like the
blade of a scythe.
The hippopotamus is a native of Africa, and is found in great numbers in
many of the rivers and lakes. It spends a great deal of its time in the
water, often sinking its body so low that only its nostrils appear above
the surface. And it can dive for eight or even ten minutes at a time,
without requiring to breathe. When it rises again it generally begins to
blow out the exhausted air from its lungs just before reaching the
surface, whereby a column of spray is forced up into the air, just as it
is by a whale when spouting.
When a mother hippopotamus has a little one, she generally carries it
about on her back.
A writer tells us that the first hippopotamus that was ever brought to
the London Zoo was caught when it was quite young, on one of the islands
in the White Nile. As its mother had gone away to feed, the hunter who
found it picked it up in his arms and ran off with it toward the boat.
The skin of these animals, however, is thickly covered with a kind of
natural oil, and the result was that the little creature was so slippery
that it wriggled out of his arms just as he reached the water's edge,
and plunged into the river. But luckily the boat-hook was lying close
by, and with this he struck at the escaping animal, gaffed it as one
does a fish, and succeeded in capturing it again with nothing more than
a wound in its thick skin, which very soon healed. After a great deal of
trouble it was safely brought to England, and lived in the Zoo for
twenty-nine years.
Another kind of hippopotamus, called the pygmy hippopotamus, is found in
Western Africa. It is a very much smaller animal, being only about as
big as a good-sized pig.
SWINE
Next on our list come the swine, among the most famous of which is the
wild boar.
Until about the middle of the sixteenth century this animal was
plentiful in the British Isles, and it is still found commonly in the
great forests of Europe. It is one of the fiercest and most savage of
animals, for it does not seem to know what fear is, and will attack over
and over again, even after receiving the most severe wounds. And its
tusks are so sharp and powerful that they have been known to rip up the
body of a horse at a single stroke. When removed from the jaw these
tusks are generally about eight or nine inches long.
In India, where wild boars are very plentiful, they generally make their
lair among thick bushes in some marshy district, and often do a great
deal of mischief to cultivated crops in the neighborhood. They are fond
of roots, too, which they grub out of the ground with their snouts, and
in hot summers, when the ponds dry up, they are said to dig in the mud
at the bottom in search of the fish which have buried themselves until
the rainy season. The old boars generally live by themselves, like
"rogue" elephants, but the younger ones and the sows go about together
in droves of fifteen or twenty, all of which, most likely, are members
of the same family.
THE BABIRUSA
This is one of the most curious of the swine. It is found in the islands
of Celebes and Borneo. In the boar of this animal the tusks in both jaws
spring upward, and then curve toward the eyes, so that there is a sort
of fringe, as it were, of tusks all round the face. Sometimes the upper
pairs are thirteen or fourteen inches long, without counting the part
that is buried in the jaw. These, however, are not very useful as
weapons. But very severe wounds can be inflicted by the lower tusks,
although they are a good deal smaller, and an enraged babirusa is a most
formidable foe.
When fully grown, the babirusa stands about three feet six inches in
height in the middle of the back, which is always very much arched. The
color of the skin is dark ashy gray.
THE WART-HOG
The wart-hog, or vlack-vark, which is found in Eastern Africa, is
certainly the ugliest of all the swine. Its head is enormously large in
comparison with its body, the muzzle is very long and broad, under each
eye is a great wart-like lump, with two others a little distance below
it, and on each side of the mouth two great stout tusks spring upward.
Altogether, it would be very hard to imagine a more sullen and
ferocious-looking animal.
It is not nearly so savage as the babirusa, however, and if it is
attacked it nearly always runs away, and tries to take refuge in some
hole in the ground, such as the deserted burrow of an ant-bear. When it
takes to ground in this way, it always turns round just before entering,
and backs in tail foremost. Sometimes, if two or three men stand just
over the burrow and jump heavily up and down in time together, it can be
induced to bolt. But it is advisable to do so with a good deal of
caution, for the animal has a singular way of turning a kind of back
somersault just as it leaves its burrow, which lands it upon the top,
just where the hunters would most likely be standing. And if they
are not very careful one of them at least is almost sure to receive a
slashing cut from the terrible tusks, which will certainly cause a
severe wound, and may even render him a cripple for life.
When it is running away from a pursuer, and wishes to see whether it is
gaining upon him, the wart-hog presents a most ridiculous appearance,
for its neck is so short that it cannot turn its head round to look
behind it. So it lifts its snout straight up into the air instead and
looks over its shoulders. Besides this, it always carries its tail
perfectly stiff and upright.
PECCARIES
In South America, and in Mexico and western Texas, the wild swine are
represented by the peccaries, of which there are two different kinds,
the collared peccary and the less common white-lipped peccary. They are
not very large animals, being only about three feet in length, and
weighing not more than fifty or sixty pounds; but they are nevertheless
very dangerous creatures, for three different reasons.
In the first place, they travel about in packs, sometimes consisting of
thirty or forty animals, which all attack a foe together. In the second
place, although their tusks are not nearly so long as those of the
preceding animals, they are almost as sharp as razors, and can inflict
most terrible wounds. Thirdly, the animals know no fear, and will go on
savagely attacking any enemy, over and over again, until the last of
them is killed. So if a hunter should meet with a herd of peccaries in
the forest, even if he be armed with a gun, his only chance of escape is
to climb into a tree and to stay there till they go away.
When a herd of peccaries is not very large--consisting, perhaps, of only
ten or twelve individuals--they are very fond of taking up their abode
in the hollow trunk of some fallen tree. In this case they can be very
easily destroyed, for one animal is always placed at the entrance to act
as a sentinel; and if a hunter conceals himself in some convenient place
close by, takes careful aim, and shoots the watching peccary dead upon
the spot, the animal behind him will just push out his carcass and take
his place, to be himself shot in like manner. In this way the whole
herd may be killed one after another.
Peccaries will eat almost any kind of food, and though they live as a
rule in the thickest parts of the forests, they will often wander to
long distances in order to feed upon the crops in cultivated ground.
There they sometimes do an immense amount of damage, and as they
generally come during the night, and leave again before daybreak, it is
very difficult to trap or shoot them.