This page has been validated.

CHAPTER V

baby elephants

A BABY Elephant is indeed a most interesting animal. He is a helpless little fellow not even strong enough to eat without his mother's help for several days after birth; but he is a wonder to look at.

His soft, wrinkled skin is covered with down, and his forehead with long black hair, the inheritance from his primeval ancestors who roamed over the North away back in the dim ages.

At birth the baby Elephant weighs from 175 to 200 pounds and is about two feet six inches tall at the shoulders. He is dark brown in colour but coal black when fresh from his bath. His trunk is short and small and of very little use to him while he is a baby. It grows in size and agility with use. His eyelashes are long and shaggy and give his hazel eyes a comical expression.

57