The half-pounder rifles were the same calibre and pattern as that
described in "The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia" as "the Baby." These
were made by Mr. Holland of Bond Street, and are the most overpowering
rifles I ever used. They were certain to kill the elephant, and to half
kill the man who fired them with twelve drachms of fine-grain powder. I
was tolerably strong, therefore I was never killed outright; but an Arab
hunter had his collar-bone smashed by the recoil, when the rifle was
loaded with simple coarse-grain powder. If he had used fine grain, I
should hardly have insured his life.
The elephants having gained the island, remained some time exposed,
before they made up their minds to cross to the other side.
Unfortunately, the boats had followed the carcases of the elephants down
the river, which were two miles distant before they could be secured;
therefore we had no means of reaching the island. Our vessels could not
have crossed, as there were many rocks below stream.
I therefore took a few shots with Hale's rockets, one of which just
grazed the rump of an elephant, and sent them off in great astonishment.
We then tried a few shots with the fieldpiece, but the gun made bad
practice, and the shells exploded very wildly and not according to the
distances regulated by the fuses.
The specific gravity of the elephant differs considerably from that of
the hippopotamus. The latter animal invariably sinks when killed, and
the body rises to the surface in about two hours, when the gas has
distended the stomach. The body of an elephant floats on the surface
immediately that it is killed, and is capable of supporting one or more
persons. The cavity of the carcase is much larger in the elephant than
in the hippopotamus; the latter is a dense mass of flesh, covered by an
exceedingly thick and heavy skin, the specific gravity of which is
considerably greater than water.
CHAPTER XIII.
MORAL RESULTS OF THE HUNT.
The moral result of the elephant hunt was very satisfactory, at the same
time most unexpected.
The sound of cannon had been heard by the natives for many miles; this
had awakened their curiosity, and numbers had sped from the surrounding
heights and satisfied themselves that several elephants had been killed.
The natives of Bedden flocked to our little camp in hundreds, and were
delighted at receiving permission to take as much elephant's flesh as
they required. They raced along the bank for a couple of miles to the
spot where the two elephants had been secured by my people, and towed
upon a sand-bank.
I had sent down a noggur to make sure of the heads, as the opportunity
of obtaining entire skulls seldom offered.
