PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

BOOK VIII

Zoology.
Land animals.
The elephant: its nearly human intelligence.

I. Let us pass to the rest of the animals, and first, those that live on land.

The largest land animal is the elephant, and it is the nearest to man in intelligence: it understands the language of its country and obeys orders, it remembers duties that it has been taught, it is pleased by affection and by marks of honor; nay more, it possesses virtues rare even in man: honesty, wisdom, justice, and also respect for the stars and reverence for the sun and the moon. Authorities state that in the forests of Mauretania, when the new moon is shining, herds of elephants go down to a river named Amilo and there perform a ritual of purification, sprinkling themselves with water, and after thus paying their respects to the moon, return to the woods carrying before them those of their calves who are tired. They are also believed to understand the obligations of another’s religion in so far as to refuse to embark on board ships when going overseas before they are lured on by the mahout’s elephant driver sworn promise in regard to their return. And they have been seen when exhausted by suffering (as even those vast frames are attacked by diseases) to lie on their backs and throw grass up to the heaven,