through the heavy sand, and shortly after I arrived
at the fight, the elephant charged directly through
the aggageers, receiving a shoulder shot from one of
my Reilly No. 10 rifles, and at the same time a
slash from the sword of Abou Do, who, with great
dexterity and speed, had closed in behind him, just
in time to reach the leg. Unfortunately, he could
not deliver the cut in the right place, as the elephant,
with increased speed, completely distanced the aggageers
; he charged across the deep sand, and reached
the jungle. We were shortly upon his tracks, and
after running about a quarter of a mile, he fell dead
in a dry watercourse. His tusks were, like the generality
of Abyssinian elephants, exceedingly short,
but of good thickness.
Some of our men, who had followed the runaway
horses, shortly returned, and reported that, during
our fight with the bull, they had heard other elephants
trumpeting in the dense nabbuk jungle
near the river. A portion of thick forest of about
two hundred acres, upon this side of the river, was
a tempting covert for elephants, and the aggageers,
who were perfectly cognisant with the habits of the
animals, positively declared that the herd must be
within this jungle. Accordingly, we proposed to
skirt the margin of the river, which, as it made a
bend at right angles, commanded two sides of a
square. Upon reaching the jungle by the river side,
we again heard the trumpet of an elephant, and
about a quarter of a. mile distant we observed a
herd of twelve of these animals shoulder-deep in
the river, which they were in the act of crossing to
the opposite side, to secure themselves in an almost
impenetrable jungle of thorny nabbuk. The aggageers
advised that we should return to the ford that we
had already crossed, and, by repassing the river, we
should most probably meet the elephants, as they
would not leave the thick jungle until the night.
Having implicit confidence in their knowledge of
the country, I followed their directions, and we
shortly recrossed the ford, and arrived upon a dry
portion of the river’s bed, banked by a dense thicket
of nabbuk.
Jali now took the management of affairs. We
all dismounted, and sent the horses to a considerable
distance lest they should by some noise disturb the
elephants. We shortly heard a cracking in the jungle
on our right, and Jali assured us, that, as he had
expected, the elephants were slowly advancing along
the jungle on the bank of the river, and, they would
pass exactly before us. We waited patiently in the
bed of the river, and the cracking in the jungle
sounded closer as the herd evidently approached.
The strip of thick thorny covert that fringed the
margin was in no place wider than half a mile—
beyond that, the country was open and park-like, but
at this season it was covered with parched grass
from eight to ten feet, high; the elephants would,
therefore, most probably remain in the jungle until
driven out.