the left-hand barrel at an elephant that had advanced
from the herd; it fell immediately ! Now
came the moment for a grand rush, as they stumbled
in confusion over the last fallen elephant, and jammed
together in a dense mass with their immense ears
outspread, forming a picture of intense astonishment!
Where were my spare guns 1 Here was a grand
opportunity to run in and floor them right and left!
“ Not a man was in sight, everybody had bolted!
and I stood in advance of the dead elephant calling
for my guns in vain. At length one of my fellows
came up, but it was too late, the fallen elephant in
the herd had risen from the ground, and they had all
hustled off at a great pace, and were gone; I had
only bagged one elephant. Where was the valiant
Bacheeff? the would-be Nimrod, who for the last
three months had been fretting in inactivity, and longing
for the moment of action, when he had promised
to be my trusty gun-bearer! He was the last man
to appear, and he only ventured from bis hiding-
place in the high dhurra when assured of the
elephants’ retreat. I was obliged to admonish the
whole party by a little physical treatment, and
the gallant Bacheet returned with us to the
village, crest-fallen and completely subdued. On
the following day not a vestige remained of the
elephant, except the offal: the Arabs had not only
cut off the flesh, but they had hacked the skull and
the bones in pieces, and carried them off to boil
down for soup.
CHAPTER XI.
THE FORD.
Two months had elapsed since the last drop of rain
had closed the wet season. It was 15 th November,
and the river had fallen to so low an ebb that the
stream was reduced to a breadth of about eighty
yards of bright and clear water, rushing in places
with great rapidity through the centre of its broad
and stony bed, while in sudden bends of the channel
it widened into still, and exceedingly deep pools.
We were encamped exactly upon the verge of a
perpendicular cliff, from which there was a rugged
path to the dry channel some thirty feet below,
which shelved rapidly towards the centre occupied
by the stream. In this spot were powerful rapids,
above which to our left was a ford, at this time
about waist-deep, upon a bed of rock that divided
the lower rapids from a broad and silent pool above:
across this ford the women of the village daily
passed to collect their faggots of wood from the
bushes on the opposite side. I had shot a crocodile,
and a marabou stork, and I was carefully plucking
s