Among the large number of carved works discovered at Benin by the British Punitive Expedition are a large number of huge and splendidly carved elephant tusks. These objects have been carefully studied by Ling Roth, and the following is an abbreviation of his description of them:[18] "The tusks vary in length up to six feet and over, and are in themselves magnificent specimens of ivory, speaking eloquently of the peaceful life which the elephants must once have lived, in order to produce such tusks. The ornamentation to which the large tusks have been subjected while preserving their form is in two grades: the one is severely plain, and the other extremely ornate and decorative in effect. The former consists of a series of three to five incised bands of a plait pattern, a design very common in West Africa, placed at intervals, the bands diminishing in width as they approach the tip of the tusk. The embellishment is consequently plain, but elegant, and does not call for further remark. "The other grade consists in covering the whole tusk with a succession of boldly carved grotesque figures--human, animal, and symbolic--giving the tusk a rich embroidered-like look, the thick ends being finished off with a suitable diamond pattern belt and the tip finished with an equally appropriate series of carvings in the shape of a mascle studded foolscap, or a capsule supported by elongated cowries. The back appears to be cut to a uniform depth, and in spite of the multiplicity of figures there is neither overcrowding nor overloading." There is another piece of carved ivory which appears to Ling Roth to be a piece of symbolic sculpture and which was probably used as a scepter. Roth says of this: "The execution of the detail is rough--more rugged perhaps than the carved tusks--nevertheless there is considerable originality of design, and it is especially remarkable as showing an earlier stage of the application of hammered metal to carved work."[19] Among the carved works in ivory are many splendidly carved armlets. Ling Roth gives a description of one which is particularly interesting as showing the ingenuity of the Negro artisan.