permitted to find their way among corn and plants. The damage they do in plantations of young trees, as well as in corn-fields, is often very extensive. They are, however, food for several beasts and birds of prey, as well as for man; besides which, their fur is an important article of commerce. Great havoc is constantly made among them by the gun, the trap, and other means.

The creature called in the Bible, the Coney, is supposed to have been in many respects like the Rabbit. "The conies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks."* By this God teaches us, that though persons may not have great strength of body, they may generally be able to do something for themselves; and thus we may learn, from the industrious habits of some animals, to labour truly to get our own living, and to do our duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call us.

THE Elephant is found in Asia and Africa, and possesses many qualities which render it useful to man in those parts of the world. It is strong, active, and persevering; gentle in disposition and manners; and so sagacious that it is capable of being trained to various kinds of service. The height of an Elephant is generally nine or ten feet, though often greater. The creature can root up trees, and can also pick up a sixpence or a needle with its trunk or proboscis. When it wants to drink, it fills its trunk with water, and thus empties it into its mouth.

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The wonderful facility with which this animal applies its trunk to all the purposes of a hand, has greatly attracted the attention of naturalists. "Not only,' says Buffon," does the Elephant possess the power of moving his trunk, but he can bend it, shorten it, lengthen it, bend it back, and turn it in every direction. The extremity of this trunk is furnished with a rim, lengthened in front into the form of a finger; and it is by this means he is able to perform all that we do with our fingers; he can pick up the smallest piece of money, gather flowers one by one, untie knots, and open and shut doors, turning the key and forcing back the bolt."

Archdeacon Paley, in his "Natural Theology," speaking of the curious structure and anatomy of the trunk, and its various powers, says, "These properties of the same organ, taken together, exhibit a specimen not only of design, (which is a tested by the advantage,) but of consummate art, and, as I may say, of elaborate preparation in accomplishing that design."

Elephants are very intelligent, and grow fond of those who treat them kindly. They are much used by princes in India in war and hunting. One of these animals can carry a small building like a tower, with ten or twelve men in it. The driver rides upon its neck, and gives it the word of command. If the "half-reasoning Elephant" arrives at ground that appears insecure, it will not venture on till it has tapped and tried it with its trunk.

It feeds on hay and vegetables, and is fond of sweetmeats, and the smell of flowers.

The ships of Tarshish brought every three years, for king Solomon, ivory, or, as it is called in the margin of the Bible, Elephants' teeth.* Some writers think that the description of the animal called in the book of Job,† Behemoth, refers to the Elephant.

* 1 Kings x. 22. 2 Chron. ix. 21.

Job xl. from verse 15 to the end.

THE word Hippopotamus is derived from the Greek, and means a River-horse. The huge, unwieldy creature before us is amphibious; that is, it can live both in water and on land. It measures upwards of ten feet in length, and its girth is often nearly nine feet. Its body is very large, fat, and round; its legs short and thick; its head large; its mouth extremely wide; its teeth of great strength and size; its eyes and ears small.

The Hippopotamus is found about the muddy banks of rivers in Africa, and, like the hog, is fond of wallowing in the mud. If pursued on land, it takes to

the water, plunges in, and sinks to the bottom. It cannot continue long there without rising to the surface to breathe; but this, when threatened with danger, it does very carefully, so that the snout can scarcely be seen above water. If wounded, it will rise and attack boats or canoes furiously, and often sink them by biting pieces out of their sides. During the night it leaves the rivers, to feed on sugar-canes, rushes, millet, or rice.

The caution of this animal is so great, when on land, that it is difficult to catch it by snares or other means. One mode is to watch it at night behind a bush, close to its path, and, as it passes, to wound it in the tendon of the knee-joint, by which the creature is lamed, and rendered incapable of escaping from the hunters. It is also sometimes taken in pitfalls which have been covered with reeds.

"We speak of the colossal strength of this formidable animal; but what is it when compared with the relative powers of some of the insect tribes ? Well may we adore the beneficence of the Creator in not having endowed the larger animals with muscular force proportionable to that of the inferior orders. A cock-chafer is six times stronger, according to its size, than the most powerful horse; and if the Elephant, as Linnæus observes, were strong in proportion to the stag-beetle, he could uproot the firmest oaks, and level mountains.”—Roberts's Wild Animals.