The Latter Were The
Most Celebrated Aggageers Among The Renowned Tribe Of The Hamran;
Their Father And Grandfather Had Been Mighty Nimrods, And The
Broadswords Wielded By Their Strong Arms Had Descended To The Men
Who Now Upheld The Prestige Of The Ancient Blades.
The eldest was
Taher Sherrif; his second brother, Roder Sherrif, was a very
small, active-looking man, with a withered left arm.
An elephant
had at one time killed his horse, and on the same occasion had
driven its sharp tusk through the arm of the rider, completely
splitting the limb, and splintering the bone from the elbow-joint
to the wrist to such an extent, that by degrees the fragments had
sloughed away, and the arm had become shrivelled and withered. It
now resembled a mass of dried leather, twisted into a deformity,
without the slightest shape of an arm; this was about fourteen
inches in length from the shoulder; the stiff and crippled hand,
with contracted fingers, resembled the claw of a vulture.
In spite of his maimed condition, Roder Sherrif was the most
celebrated leader in the elephant hunt. His was the dangerous
post to ride close to the head of the infuriated animal and
provoke the charge, and then to lead the elephant in pursuit,
while the aggageers attacked it from behind; it was in the
performance of this duty that he had met with the accident, as
his horse had fallen over some hidden obstacle, and was
immediately caught. Being an exceedingly light weight he had
continued to occupy this important position in the hunt, and the
rigid fingers of the left hand served as a hook, upon which he
could hang the reins.
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