8 behind his shoulder, and he fell backwards into the river,
where he commenced a series of wild struggles that brought him within
twenty yards of me, and I sent a ball into his head which killed him.
The powerful stream at once carried away the floating carcase.
The bank had now completely given way, and an elephant was nearly on the
summit. I fired at him with one of the Holland half-pounders, which by
the recoil flew out of my hands for a distance of several yards; this
was loaded with twelve drachms of fine-grain powder. The elephant fell
on his knees on the steep incline, and was bagged to all intents and
purposes, but believing that I had plenty of ammunition at hand, I fired
another half-pounder into his shoulder, which killed him on the spot,
and he rolled into the water, and the current took him away.
I immediately sent a man to order boats, with ropes and axes, to follow
the carcases.
In the mean time I fired my last No. 8 into the shoulder of an elephant
that had just climbed the bank and gained the island. I now had a
glorious opportunity of a shoulder-shot at every animal as it should
ascend the steep incline.
My ammunition was exhausted! My servant, Suleiman, had sent the little
bag that contained only one reload for the breech-loaders, and no
powder flask or shells for the half-pounders. I had now the annoyance of
witnessing the difficult ascent of the elephants in single file,
exposing their flanks in succession to the shoulder-shot, while I
remained a helpless looker-on.
I had thus bagged only two out of eleven, but these were killed at very
long shots (about 110 yards).
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. These two heads had now been
brought safely to camp, and the natives were employed in cleaning every
atom of flesh from the bone.
In the mean time, great numbers of our enemies were to be seen squatting
upon the heights, watching the happier Baris of Bedden, who had
congregated like vultures in the river, and were quarrelling and
scrambling over the immense carcases of the elephants. The temptation
was too great to withstand. Who could resist flesh? The mouths of our
enemies were watering, as they watched the heavy loads of red meat
carried upon the heads of the rival Baris. In the afternoon, a messenger
hailed the sentry to say that one of the sheiks wished to present
himself to me to crave a cessation of hostilities. Shortly after the
disappearance of this man with a courteous answer, a batch of messengers
arrived to beg that their chief might be received, as they all desired
peace.
On the following morning I held a general levee. About twenty headmen,
or sheiks of principal villages, attended by many of their people, came
to present themselves and to sue for peace.
