Elephants are very plentiful in this area..........considerable doubt as to whether it knows how to swim.

When elephants come too close to the camp, we have to ...

Elephants are very plentiful in this area. At night, they will sometimes come so close to the camp that we all have to light fires and beat empty tins to frighten them away. The noise they make can be terrifying -- not only their tremendous trumpeting, which starts on a shrill note like a horse whinnying and goes in one long roar right down the scale to a deep reverberating growl which seems to set the hole jungle vibrating, but also the mighty crashing sound as they drag huge creepers bodily off the trees and pull down fifty-foot bamboos as if they are asparagus stalks. Where elephants have been feeding, the whole jungle is devastated as if it has been swept by a tornado. Where they have bathed, the trees and foliage are plastered with mud to a height of several meters. If we had to follow in their wake, we ourselves would soon be completely covered with grey mud and clay. Most elephants appear to be very strong swimmers, the Indian species in particular. They are able to regulate their buoyancy by swallowing air. The African forest elephant is also probably a good swimmer, as it spends a lot of time in large rivers. Both of these elephant species have been seen walking on the bottom of shallow waters, holding their trunks aloft as snorkels. The African bush elephant is not known to take to deep water deliberately, and there is considerable doubt as to whether it knows how to swim.

Summary: When elephants come too close to the camp, we have to make loud noise and light fires to frighten them away. They however can make terrifying noise with their trumpeting, setting the whole jungle vibrating. While feeding, they also make a lot of noise and destroy the whole jungle in the process. While bathing in the mud, they splash mud all over. Most of the elephants are also good swimmers with the ability to regulate their buoyancy by swallowing air.