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.
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