Would almost have welcomed a lion, provided he would have
agreed to protect them from the Bas-e. In this very spot where we were
then camped, a party of Arab hunters had, two years previous, been
surprised at night and killed by the Bas-e, who still boasted of the
swords that they possessed as spoils from that occasion. The Bas-e knew
this spot as the favorite resting-place of the Hamran hunting-parties,
and they might be not far distant NOW, as we were in the heart of their
country. This intelligence was a regular damper to the spirits of some
of the party. Mahomet quietly retired and sat down by Barrak, the
ex-slave woman, having expressed a resolution to keep awake every hour
that he should be compelled to remain in that horrible country. The
lions roared louder and louder, but no one appeared to notice such small
thunder; all thoughts were fixed upon the Bas-e, so thoroughly had the
aggageers succeeded in frightening not only Mahomet, but also our
Tokrooris.
CHAPTER VIII.
The elephant trumpets - Fighting an elephant with swords - The
forehead-shot - Elephants in a panic - A superb old Neptune - The harpoon
reaches its aim - Death of the hippopotamus - Tramped by an elephant.
The aggageers started before daybreak in search of elephants. They soon
returned, and reported the fresh tracks of a herd, and begged me to lose
no time in accompanying them, as the elephants might retreat to a great
distance. There was no need for this advice. In a few minutes my horse
Tetel was saddled, and my six Tokrooris and Bacheet, with spare rifles,
were in attendance. Bacheet, who had so ingloriously failed in his first
essay at Wat el Negur, had been so laughed at by the girls of the
village for his want of pluck that he had declared himself ready to face
the devil rather than the ridicule of the fair sex; and, to do him
justice, he subsequently became a first-rate lad in moments of danger.
The aggageers were quickly mounted. It was a sight most grateful to a
sportsman to witness the start of these superb hunters, who with the
sabres slung from the saddle-bow, as though upon an every-day occasion,
now left the camp with these simple weapons, to meet the mightiest
animal of creation in hand-to-hand conflict. The horses' hoofs clattered
as we descended the shingly beach, and forded the river shoulder-deep,
through the rapid current, while those on foot clung to the manes of the
horses and to the stirrup-leathers to steady themselves over the loose
stones beneath.
Tracking was very difficult. As there was a total absence of rain, it
was next to impossible to distinguish the tracks of two days' date from
those most recent upon the hard and parched soil.
