and the points frequently extend so far as to reach
the shoulders.
The Maarif invariably inhabits open plains, upon
which it can see an enemy at a great distance, thus
it is the most difficult of all animals to stalk.
Nothing can be more beautiful than a herd of these
superb animals, but the only successful method of
hunting would be to course them with greyhounds ;
my dogs were dead, thus I depended entirely upon
the rifle. I was also deprived of the assistance of
the aggageers, whom I had left at the Koyan.
Rhinoceros and giraffes were very numerous throughout
this country; but the ground was most unfavourable
for riding. The surface resembled a beautiful
park, composed of a succession of undulations, interspersed
with thornless trees, and watered by streamlets
at intervals of five or eight miles, while the magnificent
Alps of Abyssinia bounded the view to the
south; but there was no enjoyment in this country
on horseback. The rainy season converted this rich
loam into a pudding, and the dry season baked it
into a pie-crust. The entire surface was loose, flaky,
and hollow ; there was not a yard of ground that was
not split into deep crevices, that were regular pitfalls;
and so unsound was the general character of the
country, that a horse sank above his fetlocks at every
footstep. I usually rode during the day when exploring
; but whenever I shot, it was necessary to
dismount, as it was impossible to follow an anim al
successfully on horseback. I had on several occasions
attempted to ride down a giraffe, but upon such
ground I had not the slightest chance; thus the
aggageers, who invariably hunt the giraffe by riding
at full speed until they can hamstring it with the
sword, never visit this country. This accounted for
the presence of so large a number of animals, as they
were never disturbed by these untiring hunters.
Our camp was pitched at the junction of a torrent,
which, flowing from the higher ground, joined the
river Salaam in a succession of waterfalls. At this
season, a gentle stream, as clear as glass, rippled over
a rocky bed about twenty yards wide, and the holes
in the flat surface' above the fall formed natural basins
of the purest water. I frequently strolled for some
miles along the bed of the stream, that afforded excellent
pasturage for the horses in a sweet, green grass,
that was not only an attraction to antelopes and buffaloes
(Bos Coffer), but formed a covert for incredible
numbers of the beautiful francolin partridge, which
might have been shot in hundreds as they rose from
the cool herbage that afforded both food and concealment.
I was returning late one evening along the
bed of the stream, after a day’s shooting, during
which I had , bagged several antelopes and wild boar,
when I observed at a distance a dark mass in the
bright yellow grass, which I quickly distinguished as
a herd of elephants. It was just dusk, and having
endeavoured to meet them as they came to drink, but
without success, I determined to track them up on
the following morning. I started at daybreak, with