Several
Heads Of Large Crocodiles Appeared And Vanished Suddenly Within
A Few Feet Of The Floating Carcase, Therefore The Arabs
Considered it prudent to wait until the stream should strand the
body upon the pebbly shallows about half a mile
Below the pool.
Upon arrival at that point, there was a general rush, and the
excited crowd secured the hippo by many ropes, and hauled it to
the shore. It was a very fine bull, as the skin without the head
measured twelve feet three inches. I had two haunches kept for
the sheik, and a large quantity of fat, which is highly and
deservedly prized by the Arabs, as it is the most delicate of any
animal. Those portions secured, with a reserve of meat for
ourselves, the usual disgusting scene of violence commenced, the
crowd falling upon the carcase like maddened hyaenas.
* Hasinth is the Arabic for hippopotamus.
"In the evening I resolved to watch the dhurra fields for
elephants. At about 9 P.M. I arrived in the plantations, with
three men carrying spare guns, among whom was Bacheet, who had at
length an opportunity for which he had long yearned. I entrusted
to him the 'Baby,' which he promised to put into my hands the
very moment that I should fire my second barrel. I carried my own
Ceylon No. 10, made by Beattie. We had not been half an hour in
the dhurra fields before we met a couple of Arab watchers, who
informed us that a herd of elephants was already in the
plantation; we accordingly followed our guides. In about a
quarter of an hour we distinctly heard the cracking of the dhurra
stems, as the elephants browsed, and trampled them beneath their
feet.
"Taking the proper position of the wind, I led our party
cautiously in the direction of the sound, and in about five
minutes I came in view of the slate-coloured and dusky forms of
the herd. The moon was bright, and I counted nine elephants; they
had trampled a space of about fifty yards square into a barren
level, and they were now slowly moving forward, feeding as they
went. One elephant, unfortunately, was separated from the herd,
and was about forty yards in the rear; this fellow I was afraid
would render our approach difficult. Cautioning my men,
especially Bacheet, to keep close to me with the spare rifles, I
crept along the alleys formed by the tall rows of dhurra, and
after carefully stalking against the wind, I felt sure that it
would be necessary to kill the single elephant before I should be
able to attack the herd. Accordingly, I crept nearer and nearer,
well concealed in the favourable crop of high and sheltering
stems, until I was within fifteen yards of the hindmost animal.
As I had never shot one of the African species, I was determined
to follow the Ceylon plan, and get as near as possible; therefore
I continued to creep from row to row of dhurra, until I at length
stood at the very tail of the elephant in the next row. I could
easily have touched it with my rifle, but just at this moment, it
either obtained my wind, or it heard the rustle of the men. It
quickly turned its head half round towards me; in the same
instant I took the temple shot, and, by the flash of the rifle,
I saw that it fell. Jumping forward past the huge body, I fired
the left-hand barrel at an elephant that had advanced from the
herd; it fell immediately! Now came the moment for a grand rush,
as they stumbled in confusion over the last fallen elephant, and
jammed together in a dense mass with their immense ears
outspread, forming a picture of intense astonishment! Where were
my spare guns? Here was a grand opportunity to run in and floor
them right and left!
"Not a man was in sight, everybody had bolted! and I stood in
advance of the dead elephant calling for my guns in vain. At
length one of my fellows came up, but it was too late, the fallen
elephant in the herd had risen from the ground, and they had all
hustled off at a great pace, and were gone; I had only bagged one
elephant. Where was the valiant Bacheet? the would-be Nimrod, who
for the last three months had been fretting in inactivity, and
longing for the moment of action, when he had promised to be my
trusty gun-bearer! He was the last man to appear, and he only
ventured from his hiding-place in the high dhurra when assured of
the elephants' retreat. I was obliged to admonish the whole party
by a little physical treatment, and the gallant Bacheet returned
with us to the village, crestfallen and completely subdued. On
the following day not a vestige remained of the elephant, except
the offal: the Arabs had not only cut off the flesh, but they had
hacked the skull and the bones in pieces, and carried them off to
boil down for soup."
CHAPTER XI.
THE FORD.
Two months had elapsed since the last drop of rain had closed the
wet season. It was 15th November, and the river had fallen to so
low an ebb that the stream was reduced to a breadth of about
eighty yards of bright and clear water, rushing in places with
great rapidity through the centre of its broad and stony bed,
while in sudden bends of the channel it widened into still, and
exceedingly deep pools. We were encamped exactly upon the verge
of a perpendicular cliff, from which there was a rugged path to
the dry channel some thirty feet below, which shelved rapidly
towards the centre occupied by the stream. In this spot were
powerful rapids, above which to our left was a ford, at this time
about waist-deep, upon a bed of rock that divided the lower
rapids from a broad and silent pool above:
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