No One
Was Behind Me, As Florian Had Misunderstood The Arrangement That
He Was To Endeavour To Obtain A Quick Shot Should I Fail.
I began
to believe in what I had frequently heard asserted, that the
forehead shot so fatal to the Indian elephant had no effect upon
the African species, except by mere chance.
I had taken so steady
an aim at the convexity at the root of the trunk, that every
advantage had been given to the bullet; but the rifle that in
Ceylon had been almost certain at an elephant, had completely
failed. It was quite impossible to follow the animal through the
jungle of hooked thorns. On our way toward the camp we saw tracks
of rhinoceroses, giraffes, buffaloes, and a variety of antelopes,
but none of the animals themselves.
On the following morning we started, several times fording the
river to avoid the bends: our course was due east. After the
first three hours' ride through a beautiful country bordering the
Settite valley, which we several times descended, we came in
clear view of the magnificent range of mountains, that from Geera
could hardly be discerned; this was the great range of Abyssinia,
some points of which exceed 10,000 feet. The country that we now
traversed was so totally uninhabited that it was devoid of all
footprints of human beings; even the sand by the river's side,
that like the snow confessed every print, was free from all
traces of man. The Base were evidently absent from our
neighbourhood.
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