Soon After, They Returned With
The Aggageers, Whose Camp Was But A Quarter Of A Mile Distant.
I agreed
to have a hunt for elephants the next day with Taher Sherrif, and before
the following sunrise we had started up the course of the Royan for a
favorite resort of elephants.
We had ridden about thirty miles, and were beginning to despair, when
suddenly we turned a sharp angle in the watercourse, and Taher Sherrif,
who was leading, immediately reined in his horse and backed him toward
the party. I followed his example, and we were at once concealed by the
sharp bend of the river. He now whispered that a bull-elephant was
drinking from a hole it had scooped in the sand, not far around the
corner. Without the slightest confusion the hunters at once fell quietly
into their respective places, Taher Sherrif leading, while I followed
closely in the line, with my Tokrooris bringing up the rear; we were a
party of seven horses.
Upon turning the corner we at once perceived the elephant, that was
still drinking. It was a fine bull. The enormous ears were thrown
forward, as the head was lowered in the act of drawing up the water
through the trunk. These shaded the eyes, and with the wind favorable we
advanced noiselessly upon the sand to within twenty yards before we were
perceived. The elephant then threw up its head, and with the ears
flapping forward it raised its trunk for an instant, and then slowly but
easily ascended the steep bank and retreated.
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