Nature's great
master-peece,
an Elephant,
The onely
harmlesse great
thing; the giant
Of beasts . . .
-- John Donne, 1612
Out of the gray Kenyan dusk, an elephant soundlessly advances to the edge of a water hole, its trunk raised high to catch the first scent of danger. Satisfied that the way is clear, it signals and is joined by a second elephant. In ritual greeting the two behemoths entwine their trunks, flap their enormous ears and clack tusk against tusk, sending the cold crack of ivory across the Ngulia Hills. That same sound is heard 10,000 miles away in...
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