hs of the wilderness which they are accustomed to
follow, the surface being covered with a frail platform so arranged as
to conceal the excavation. When one of a tribe is caught in the trap,
the others, if time allows before the hunters come to the ground, will
in an ingenious way release him. I doubt if the most practicable
manner of effecting this will occur at once to the reader. The easiest
plan may seem to drag the captive from the pit by sheer strength, but
as the hole is deep and has vertical sides, the elephants contrive a
better way. They bring bits of timber, which they throw into the
pitfall, the captive treads them down until he is elevated to a
position whence he can escape from his prison.

The intelligence of the wild elephant is probably in good part to be
accounted for by the fact that the creature possesses in its trunk an
instrument which is admirably contrived to execute the behests of an
intelligent will. It is easy for us to see how, in the case of man, the
hands have served to develop the intelligence by providing him with
means whereby he could do a great variety of things which demanded
thought and afforded education. The elephant is the only large mammal
which has ever acquired a serviceable addition to the body such as the
trunk affords. In their ordinary life the trunk does almost as varied
work as the human arm. With it they can express emotions in a remarkable
way; they caress their young, gather their food by a great variety of
movements, or defend themselves from assailants. To the naturalist who
has come to perceive the close relations between bodily structure and
mental endowments, it is not surprising to find that these creatures
have attained a quality of mind which is found nowhere else among the
mammals except in man and in some of his kindred, the apes.

The most peculiar mental quality of the elephant, a feature which
separates him even from the dog, is the rational way in which he will
do certain kinds of mechanical work. He appears to have an immediate
sense as to the effects of his actions, which we find elsewhere only
among human beings. From a great body of well-attested observations,
showing what may be called the logical quality of the mind of these
creatures, I may be allowed to select a few stories which have a
singular denotative value. An acquaintance of mine, a British officer
who had served long in India, told me that in taking artillery over
very difficult roads, ce