This extraordinary hunting is attended with superlative
danger, and the hunters frequently fall victims
to their intrepidity. I felt inclined to take off my cap
and make a low how to the gallant and swarthy
fellows who sat before me, when I knew the toughness
of their hearts and the activity of their limbs.
One of them was disabled for life by a cut from his
own sword, that had severed the knee-cap and bitten
deep into the joint, leaving a scar that appeared as
though the leg had been nearly off; he had missed his
blow at the elephant, owing to the high and tough
dried grass that had partially- stopped the sword, and
in springing upon one side, to avoid the animal that
had turned upon him, he fell over his own sharp blade,
which cut through the bone, and he lay helpless; he
was saved by one of his comrades, who immediately
rushed in from behind, and with a desperate cut
severed the back sinew of the elephant. As I listened
to these fine fellows, who in a modest and unassuming
manner recounted their adventures as matters of
course, I felt exceedingly small. My whole life
had been passed in wild sports from early manhood,
and I had imagined that I understood as
much as most people of this subject; but here
were men who, without the aid of the best rifles
and deadly projectiles, went straight at their game,
and faced the lion in his den with shield and sabre.
There is a freemasonry among hunters, and my
heart was drawn towards these aggageers. We
fraternised upon the spot, and I looked forward
with intense pleasure to thé day when we might
become allies in action.
I have been rewarded by this alliance in being now
able to speak of the deeds of others that far excel
my own, and of bearing testimony to the wonderful
courage and dexterity of these Nimrods, instead of
continually relating anecdotes of dangers in the first
person, which cannot be more disagreeable to the
reader than to the narrator.
Without inflicting a description of five months
passed in Sofi, it will be necessary to make a few
extracts from my journal, to convey an idea of the
manner in which the time was occupied.
“ August 7, 1861.—There is plenty of game on the
other side of the river, but nothing upon this ; there
are no means of crossing, as the stream is exceedingly
strong, and about two hundred yards in width. We
felled a tree for a canoe, but there is nothing worthy
of the name of timber, and the wood is extremely
heavy.
“There are several varieties of wild spinach, and a.
plant that makes a good salad, known by the Arabs as
‘ Rêglÿ ; 9 also wild onions as large as a man’s fist,
but uneatable.
“ August 8.—I counted seventy-six giraffes on the
opposite side of the river. This magnificent sight is
most tantalizing. The sheik made his appearance
to-day with a present of butter and honey, and some
small money in exchange for dollars that I had given
him. The Austrian dollar of Maria Theresa is the