Of the Elephant

The largest land animal is the elephant, and it is the nearest to man in intelligence : it understands the language of its country (...), it possesses virtues rare even in man, honesty, wisdom, justice, also respect for the stars and reverence for the sun and moon.(...) Nevertheless they are scared by the smallest squeal of a pig;(...) They live 200 and in some cases 300 years(...) [I]n the coast[al] districts (...) the elephants link themselves four or five together into a sort of raft and holding up their heads to serve as sails are carried on the waves to the better pastures of Arabia.

Pliny, 79 AD


From:
Pliny
Natural History
With an English Translation
In Ten Volumes
Volume III
Libri VIII-XI
by H Rackham, M.A.
London
William Heinemann LTD
Cambrige, Massachsetts
Harvard University Press
1940
Page 3, 23, 25, 29 & 73
https://www.archive.org/details/plinynaturalhist017760mbp