The Aggageers Now Halted
For About A Minute To Confer Together, And Then Followed In Their
Original Order Up The Crumbled Bank.
We were now on most unfavorable
ground; the fire that had cleared the country we had hitherto traversed
had been stopped by the bed of the torrent.
We were thus plunged at once
into withered grass above our heads, unless we stood in the stirrups.
The ground was strewn with fragments of rock, and altogether it was
ill-adapted for riding.
However, Taher Sherrif broke into a trot, followed by the entire party,
as the elephant was not in sight. We ascended a hill, and when near the
summit we perceived the elephant about eighty yards ahead. It was
looking behind during its retreat, by swinging its huge head from side
to side, and upon seeing us approach it turned suddenly round and
halted.
"Be ready, and take care of the rocks!" said Taher Sherrif, as I rode
forward by his side. Hardly had he uttered these words of caution when
the bull gave a vicious jerk with its head, and with a shrill scream
charged down upon us with the greatest fury. Away we all went,
helter-skelter, through the dry grass, which whistled in my ears, over
the hidden rocks, at full gallop, with the elephant tearing after us for
about a hundred and eighty yards at a tremendous pace. Tetel was a
sure-footed horse, and being unshod he never slipped upon the stones.
Thus, as we all scattered in different directions, the elephant became
confused and relinquished the chase.
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