Aggahr turned a complete sommersault within a few
yards of their feet, having put his fore-leg into a
deep crevice, and I rolled over almost beneath the
elephants with the heavy rifle in my hand. The
horse recovered quicker than I, and, galloping off,
he vanished in the high grass, leaving me rather
confused from the fall upon my head. The herd,
instead of crushing me as they ought to have done,
took fright, and bolted off at their best pace. My
eyes were dancing with the fall; the mounted gun-
bearers were nowhere, as Gazelle would not face the
elephants, and Tetel was far behind. My English
saddle had vanished with Aggahr, and, as the
stirrups of. the Arab saddles were simple rings for
the accommodation of the big toe, they were unserviceable.
Had the aggageers been with me, I should
have had great sport with this herd; but, with the
exception of Taher Noor, the men were bad horsemen,
and even he was afraid of the ground, which
was frightfully dangerous.
We discovered that the bullet had passed through
the great artery of the heart, which had caused the
instantaneous death of the elephant I had shot.
We were now at least seventeen miles from camp,
and I feared that Aggahr would be lost, and would
most likely be devoured by a lion during the night :
thus I should lose not only my good old hunter,
but my English saddle. I passed several hours in
searching for him in all directions, and, in order to
prevent him from straying to the south, we fired
HEAD OF MEHEDÄHET— (r EDUNCA ELLIPS tPRYMNa ) .
Seepage 469.