CHAPTER XII.

Elephants clothed with Hair and Wool.-Existing Instances of this Variety, even within the Tropics.-Probable Identity between the Mammoth and the Asiatic Elephant.—Cuvier's Theory on this Subject inconsistent with Facts.-More Natural Conclusions.-Erroneous Theories respecting Fossils.The Mastodon not confined to the Continents of America, as commonly supposed.-Instance of the great Mastodon in England.-Form of the Tusks of the Mastodon.--Erroneous Ideas on this subject.

Having now tried upon its own merits this interesting and important question, respecting the former history of the earth, by the presumptive evidence derived from the northern fossil remains; and having, by conclusive, though indirect proofs, shown that the elephants, found in the ice of the Arctic regions, never could have been inhabitants of such high latitudes, but must, on the contrary, have all been drifted to their present beds by the natural currents, which have, at all times, prevailed in the ocean; and that these natives of tropical climates never could have existed but in the latitudes in which we now find them naturalized, notwithstanding the startling fact of some individuals having been found entire, and covered with a warm coat of hair and wool; I now proceed to bring forward, what may truly be considered a positive and direct evidence of the correctness of those conclusions to which we have been led. For, as many of the theories of geology may be distinctly traced to the remarkable fossil animals, covered with a shaggy coat, which have already been so fully described, it is a point of the very highest interest and importance to geology, to find that the arguments,

grounded on this hairy covering, can no longer be of the smallest service in the support of such false and contradictory opinions. For it has, within a few years, been indisputably proved, that though neither the common Asiatic, nor the African elephant, requires, in general, such natural protection, owing to the heat of the climates which they most delight in; yet that a variety of the species actually exists in one district of Hindostan, in the immediate neighbourhood of the Hymalaya range, having a thick and shaggy coat of hair; and being thus suited, by the common laws of nature, to become the inhabitants of a region comparatively cold.

When we consider the admirable manner in which animal as well as vegetable productions accommodate themselves to the particular temperature in which they are placed, we cannot feel surprised, that, in some instances, elephants with hair, should be found to exist. For the common Asiatic elephant cannot be regarded with any attention, without our perceiving that, on almost every part of his bare hide, there is an indication of hair, such as we see on some species of the dog from Turkey, or of the hog from China;* and we may, therefore, safely conclude that, as in both these familiar instances, the clothing, natural to most other animals, is only wanting in the case of the elephant, from the warmth of the climates to which he is, for the most part, confined. This natural clothing, however, which circumstances alone have, in general, caused him to lay aside, is immediately called into action, when a cooler temperature requires its presence. An elephant does not continue long in our temperate climates without this provision being more or less developed; and we have, at this moment, in London, most decided instances of this incipient roughness, in the two elephants belonging to the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park.

The recent discovery of this zoological fact, in a country which has so long been occupied by numbers of our countrymen, may, perhaps, be looked upon as one of the most remarkable parts of it; and though the work I am about to quote has now been for several years before the public, I do

* It is well known, that many of the hog tribe, especially those from China, have little or no hair, when first brought into our cliThe laws of nature soon, however, take effect; and they not only, in the end, become covered with hair, but they also acquire a complete under-covering of wool, as is well known to all fly-fishers.

mates.

not any where find that this new and interesting variety of the elephant has met with that attention to which it may certainly lay claim. That it bears in a most remarkable manner, on the great questions in geology, must be apparent to all who have attended to the line of reasoning so recently explained. For it must be evident, that if the common elephants, of the hottest climates, without hair, were floated by the currents from a tropical to a frozen region, and were there stranded, and sealed up, on the subsiding of the waters; all such as inhabited a cooler climate, even within the tropics, must also have been subjected to a similar mechanical power. But we are not to suppose, because a few fossil specimens may have been found with hair, that all the elephants, whose remains are embedded in the northern or temperate climates of the earth, were of this rough species. On the contrary, it may safely be looked upon as certain, that the number of bodies with hair, bore no greater proportion to those without, than we now find to exist in the living species. We have every reason to conclude, that the elephant is a native only of such climates as furnish, in luxuriance, the vegetable productions on which he feeds. They are no where found, in a natural state, in temperate latitudes; but only in those countries where the herbage may be termed gigantic, and where the jungles are so thick, that the animals may not only be completely concealed from their enemies, but may also find an easy and abundant subsistence. Such is the case, not only in the low and swampy plains of Hindostan, but, also, in the districts of India, bordering on the mountains, where a higher elevation in the atmosphere counteracts, in some degree, the powerful effects of the sun, and occasions a temperature, which, in India, is termed cold, though the thermometer may rarely indicate the freezing point.

The first, and, as yet, only notice we have of this shaggy variety of the elephant, is to be found in the interesting journal of Bishop Heber. It was in the course of that long tour round the district over which his spiritual government extended, that the bishop arrived in the residency of Barielly, a city situated in the plain, in the 28th degree of north latitude, and about 50 miles from the lower range of the Hymalaya. It was at only one day's journey from Barielly, on his way to the mountains, and while passing through the unwholesome forests and jungles of the plain, that he was visited by a native border prince of that district, who invited

him to join in the hunting of a tiger, which had lately been seen in that neighbourhood. It is in the short and animated description of this hunt, that the bishop makes use of the following terms: "The rajah was mounted on a little female elephant, hardly bigger than the Durham ox, and almost as shaggy as a poodle. She was a native of the neighbouring woods, where they are generally, though not always, of a smaller size than those of Bengal and Chittagong."

Heber again mentions having met the same rajah, a few days afterwards, "on his little elephant;" and we cannot peruse this concise, yet particular description of so casual a circumstance, without perceiving, that, though he does not enter into details upon the subject of this rough-coated elephant, yet his attention was, on both these occasions, particularly attracted to so uncommon an animal. I am the more desirous of drawing the attention to the artless and familiar description contained in the above passage, from having found, on inquiry from many who have spent a great part of their lives in the East, that this variety of the elephant is so little known, that much doubt is entertained, by some, as to the correctness of the account of it.

Setting aside, however, for a moment, the character of the individual from whom alone we have, as yet, derived our information of this new living variety, let us consider the collateral circumstances of the case; and we shall find, that this generally, though not invariably small race of elephants, are said to be the natural and wild inhabitants of an extensive range of jungle, where, though ice is rarely seen, yet hoar frost is quite a common occurrence; and where, consequently, the clothing of the native animals might be expected to be warmer than in the burning plains, at a greater distance from the highest mountains on the globe.

We find, that this very animal on which the rajah was mounted, accompanied the bishop to the town or village, where he was to leave his elephants for a time, and to continue his journey on "little white shaggy ponies," in every respect similar to those of Wales, or of Scotland, to which Heber likens them; and in the course of one day's journey further, he begins to mention chamois, which are well known to be naturalized only in very cold climates.*

"The pahariahs, or hill people, are quite a distinct race from the rest of the inhabitants of Bengal; and, from every circumstance,

It is not necessary, however, to urge the probability of the account of any object of that description given by the pen of the amiable Heber. For, however mistaken his views may sometimes have been upon Indian affairs, in the short acquaintance which he was permitted to enjoy with that immense range over which his spiritual authority extended, we cannot, for a moment, doubt his exactness on such points as we are now considering; and as he was, at the time, accompanied by Mr. Boulderston, who had for many years held an official situation in that district, and from whom, Heber says, he derived much information on the natural history of the jungles they were then traversing, it is but reasonable to suppose, that the short description above quoted, was the result of the conversation and inquiry which this new and strange looking animal must naturally have given rise to.

I am happy to say, that, in as short a space of time as the great distance will permit, we may hope to have a full and particular account of the rough-coated elephant. Through the kindness of Dr. Wilkins, Librarian to the honourable the East India Company, in London, letters have been written to the gentleman who is, at present, engaged as a naturalist, in traversing some of the extensive districts of Hindostan, for the purpose of drawing his particular attention to this animal; and to all who enter into the consequences, to be naturally deduced from its discovery, a more particular description of it, from the pen of a naturalist, must afford a subject of the highest interest and expectation.

In the mean time, I must not omit to take notice of one point which has come under my observation, and which certainly corroborates, as far as it goes, my idea of the complete or approximating identity of species, between this existing caste of the elephant, and the shaggy fossil of Siberia, as well as between the common Asiatic race, and the animal whose bones and teeth are so generally distributed over the surface of the earth, and known by the name of the mammoth. I have before alluded to the interesting specimens of the

may be, with reason, considered as aborigines. They are in stature and figure very like the Welsh," &c.

"Most people conclude the climate of India to be invariably sultry and scorching, whereas the months of December and January are often so cold as to produce a thin coat of ice upon the puddles; and, very commonly, a smart hoar frost on the grass and vegetation."-Field Sports of the East.