The usual height of elephants is from nine to ten feet; but many have been known to attain fourteen; the skeleton of that sent to the Czar Peter, by the king of Persia, and which is seen in the museum at St. Petersburgh, is sixteen and a half, and there are records of elephants attaining the enormous height of twenty feet. When we think of the mountainous animal, as I have described the elephant to be, it seems inconsistent to say, that he is swift in his paces: in truth, he is not; a heavy trot being the fastest movement which he can accomplish. His enormous stride, however, gives him the advantage over lighter animals; and we have heard of a fast-galloping horse finding it difficult to escape from an elephant, even when urged to his utmost speed. The gait is most fatiguing and uncomfortable to those who ride him for the first few times, because he moves the two feet on the same side at once; and the larger the elephant, the more uncomfortable the movement. Bishop Heber, however, seems to have formed an exception in this respect, for he says, it was far from being disagreeable, and appeared to him to resemble being carried on men's shoulders. It is supposed that the neck, where the driver places himself, is the easiest seat. He guides the animals by occasionally touching their ears, pressing his legs to the sides of their necks, pricking them with a pointed instrument, or knocking them with the handle; often, however, they are so docile, that a mere word will be sufficient.