From these, and many other attestations, we may conclude, that the most common size of the elephant is from ten to eleven feet; that those of thirteen or fourteen feet are very scarce, and that the smallest are at least nine feet high when they come to their full growth in a state of liberty. These enormous lumps of matter, as we have observed, move with much celerity; they are supported by four members, which are more like pillars, or massive columns, than legs, and are from fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter, and five or six feet in height; their legs are therefore twice as long as those of a man; thus, though the elephant took but one step to a man's two, he would overtake him in running. The common pace of the elephant is not swifter than that of the horse; but when he is pressed, he goes a sort of amble, equivalent for quickness to a gallop. He executes with speed, and even with ease, all direct motion; but he has no facility for oblique or retrograde motions. It is commonly in narrow and deep roads, where he can hardly turn, that the negroes attack him, and cut off his tail, which they value as much as the whole animal. He cannot go down a steep declivity without much difficulty, he is then obliged to bend the hind legs, in order to keep the fore part of his body on a level with the hind, and that his own weight may not throw him down. He swims well, though the form of his legs and feet seem to indicate the contrary; but as the capacity of his breast and belly is very large, as the volume of the lungs and intestines is enormous, and as those parts are full of air, or matter lighter than water, he sinks less deep than any other animal; he finds less resistance to overcome, and, consequently, can swim faster in making less efforts with his limbs. Thus, he is very useful for crossing rivers; besides two field-pieces, each of them four-pounders, with which he is loaded on these occasions, he carries heavy baggage, and several persons holding him by the ears and tail. When thus loaded, he swims deep in the water, and nothing is seen but his trunk, which he keeps erect to enable him to breathe.