Should they charge, there would not
be a possibility of escape, as the hooked thorns rendered any sudden
movement almost impracticable.
In another moment there was a tremendous
crash; and with a sound like a whirlwind the herd dashed through the
crackling jungle. I rushed forward, as I was uncertain whether they were
in advance or retreat. Leaving a small sample of my nose upon a kittar
thorn, and tearing my way, with naked arms, through what, in cold blood,
would have appeared impassable, I caught sight of two elephants leading
across my path, with the herd following in a dense mass behind them.
Firing a shot at the leading elephant, simply in the endeavor to check
the herd, I repeated with the left-hand barrel at the head of his
companion. This staggered him, and threw the main body into confusion.
They immediately closed up in a dense mass, and bore everything before
them; but the herd exhibited merely an impenetrable array of hind
quarters wedged together so firmly that it was impossible to obtain a
head or shoulder shot.
I was within fifteen paces of them, and so compactly were they packed
that with all their immense strength they could not at once force so
extensive a front through the tough and powerful branches of the dense
kittar. For about half a minute they were absolutely checked, and they
bored forward with all their might in their determination to open a road
through the matted thorns. The elastic boughs, bent from their position,
sprang back with dangerous force, and would have fractured the skull of
any one who came within their sweep. A very large elephant was on the
left flank, and for an instant he turned obliquely to the left. I
quickly seized the opportunity and fired the "Baby," with an explosive
shell, aimed far back in the flank, trusting that it would penetrate
beneath the opposite shoulder. The recoil of the "Baby," loaded with ten
drams of the strongest powder and a half-pound shell, spun me round like
a top. It was difficult to say which was staggered the more severely,
the elephant or myself. However, we both recovered, and I seized one of
my double rifles, a Reilly No. 10, that was quickly pushed into my hand
by my Tokroori, Hadji Ali. This was done just in time, as an elephant
from the battled herd turned sharp round, and, with its immense ears
cocked, charged down upon us with a scream of rage. "One of us she must
have if I miss!"
This was the first downright charge of an African elephant that I had
seen, and instinctively I followed my old Ceylon plan of waiting for a
close shot. She lowered her head when within about six yards, and I
fired low for the centre of the forehead, exactly in the swelling above
the root of the trunk. She collapsed to the shot, and fell dead, with a
heavy shock, upon the ground. At the same moment the thorny barrier gave
way before the pressure of the herd, and the elephants disappeared in
the thick jungle, through which it was impossible to follow them.
I had suffered terribly from the hooked thorns, and the men had
likewise. This had been a capital trial for my Tokrooris, who had
behaved remarkably well, and had gained much confidence by my successful
forehead-shot at the elephant when in full charge; but I must confess
that this is the only instance in which I have succeeded in killing an
African elephant by the front shot, although I have steadily tried the
experiment upon subsequent occasions.
We had very little time to examine the elephant, as we were far from
home and the sun was already low. I felt convinced that the other
elephant could not be far off, after having received the "Baby's"
half-pound shell carefully directed, and I resolved to return on the
following morning with many people and camels to divide the flesh. It
was dark by the time we arrived at the tents, and the news immediately
spread through the Arab camp that two elephants had been killed.
On the following morning we started, and upon arrival at the dead
elephant we followed the tracks of that wounded by the "Baby." The blood
upon the bushes guided us in a few minutes to the spot where the
elephant lay dead, at about three hundred yards' distance. The whole day
passed in flaying the two animals and cutting off the flesh, which was
packed in large gum sacks, with which the camels were loaded. I was
curious to examine the effect of the half-pound shell. It had entered
the flank on the right side, breaking the rib upon which it had
exploded; it had then passed through the stomach and the lower portion
of the lungs, both of which were terribly shattered; and breaking one of
the fore-ribs on the left side, it had lodged beneath the skin of the
shoulder. This was irresistible work, and the elephant had evidently
dropped in a few minutes after having received the shell.
A most interesting fact had occurred. I noticed an old wound unhealed
and full of matter in the front of the left shoulder. The bowels were
shot through, and were green in various places. Florian suggested that
it must be an elephant that I had wounded at Wat el Negur; we tracked
the course of the bullet most carefully, until we at length discovered
my unmistakable bullet of quicksilver and lead, almost uninjured, in the
fleshy part of the thigh, imbedded in an unhealed wound. Thus, by a
curious chance, upon my first interview with African elephants by
daylight, I had killed the identical elephant that I had wounded at Wat
el Negur forty-three days before in the dhurra plantation, twenty-eight
miles distant!
CHAPTER VII.
The start from Geera - Feats of horsemanship - A curious chase - Abou Do
wins a race - Capturing a young buffalo - Our island camp - Tales of the
Base.
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