We Met An Elephant On The Kalomo Which Had No Tusks.
This is as rare a thing
in Africa as it is to find them with tusks in Ceylon.
As soon as she saw us
she made off. It is remarkable to see the fear of man operating
even on this huge beast. Buffaloes abound, and we see large herds of them
feeding in all directions by day. When much disturbed by man
they retire into the densest parts of the forest, and feed by night only.
We secured a fine large bull by crawling close to a herd.
When shot, he fell down, and the rest, not seeing their enemy, gazed about,
wondering where the danger lay. The others came back to it,
and, when we showed ourselves, much to the amusement of my companions,
they lifted him up with their horns, and, half supporting him in the crowd,
bore him away. All these wild animals usually gore a wounded companion,
and expel him from the herd; even zebras bite and kick
an unfortunate or a diseased one. It is intended by this instinct
that none but the perfect and healthy ones should propagate the species.
In this case they manifested their usual propensity to gore the wounded,
but our appearance at that moment caused them to take flight,
and this, with the goring being continued a little, gave my men the impression
that they were helping away their wounded companion. He was shot between
the fourth and fifth ribs; the ball passed through both lungs and a rib
on the opposite side, and then lodged beneath the skin. But, though it was
eight ounces in weight, yet he ran off some distance, and was secured
only by the people driving him into a pool of water and killing him there
with their spears. The herd ran away in the direction of our camp,
and then came bounding past us again. We took refuge on a large ant-hill,
and as they rushed by us at full gallop I had a good opportunity of seeing
that the leader of a herd of about sixty was an old cow;
all the others allowed her a full half-length in their front. On her withers
sat about twenty buffalo-birds (`Textor erythrorhynchus', Smith),
which act the part of guardian spirits to the animals. When the buffalo
is quietly feeding, this bird may be seen hopping on the ground
picking up food, or sitting on its back ridding it of the insects
with which their skins are sometimes infested. The sight of the bird
being much more acute than that of the buffalo, it is soon alarmed
by the approach of any danger, and, flying up, the buffaloes instantly
raise their heads to discover the cause which has led to the sudden flight
of their guardian. They sometimes accompany the buffaloes in their flight
on the wing, at other times they sit as above described.
Another African bird, namely, the `Buphaga Africana', attends the rhinoceros
for a similar purpose.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 436 of 572
Words from 233500 to 234006
of 306638
