Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found: A Book of Zoology for BoysReid, Mayne
Science
Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found: A Book of Zoology for Boys
Reid, Mayne
Mammals
In addition to these distinctions, another very important one is found
in the size and shape of the teeth. The Dauntelah is one with very
large teeth, in opposition to the Mookna, in which the tusks are of
small dimensions, and scarcely visible outside the mouth. The Europeans
prefer elephants of the mookna variety, as these are of milder
disposition than the dauntelahs; but the natives prize the large-toothed
kinds, taking the chance of being able to tame them to submission.
There are many degrees between the mookna and dauntelah, founded on the
form of the tusks. Those of the Pullung-daunt project forward with an
almost horizontal curve, while the straight tusks of the mooknas point
directly downwards. Nearly a dozen varieties or breeds are thus
established among the elephants of India that are held in a state of
domestication.
White elephants are also met with, and are highly prized by the rajahs
and wealthy nobles. These are mere varieties, produced by albinism, and
may belong to any of the castes already described.
It has been further ascertained that the elephants of different Indian
countries vary a good deal in point of size. Those from the southern
districts, and some of the larger islands, are larger and stronger than
the elephants of Nepaul and other mountain countries in the north. The
finest are those of Cochin China and the Burmese territories of Pegu,
while those of Ceylon are even superior to the kinds indigenous to
Northern India.
The African elephants are said also to be larger as they dwell nearer to
the Equator; and from this it would appear that the elephant is
essentially a tropical animal, and thrives best in the climate of the
torrid zone.
The Asiatic elephant is found wild as well as domesticated in nearly all
the Indian countries, as also in many of the large islands. Its range
northward is bounded by the lower hills of the Himalayas; and among
these, especially through the _saul_ forests, these huge animals roam
about in herds, each herd being under the guidance or leadership of an
old male, or "bull," as he is termed. As an elephant brings a
considerable sum of money, even in India, these are eagerly hunted; and
their capture is accomplished by decoying them into a pound or enclosure
constructed for the purpose, where ropes are attached to them, and then
tied to the neighbouring trees. The decoy used is a tame elephant, that
has been already trained for the purpose.
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