Glad Of An Opportunity
Of Getting Some Fresh Meat, We Landed And Fired Into One.
They all
retreated into a marshy piece of ground between two villages.
Our
men gave chase, and fired into the herd. Standing on a sand hummock,
we could see the bleeding animals throwing showers of water with
their trunks over their backs. The herd was soon driven back upon
us, and a wounded one turned to bay. Yet neither this one, nor any
of the others, ever attempted to charge. Having broken his legs with
a rifle-ball, we fired into him at forty yards as rapidly as we could
load and discharge the rifles. He simply shook his head at each
shot, and received at least sixty Enfield balls before he fell. Our
excellent sailor from the north of Ireland happened to fire the last,
and, as soon as he saw the animal fall, he turned with an air of
triumph to the Doctor and exclaimed, "It was MY shot that done it,
sir!"
In a few minutes upwards of a thousand natives were round the
prostrate king of beasts; and, after our men had taken all they
wanted, an invitation was given to the villagers to take the
remainder. They rushed at it like hungry hyenas, and in an
incredibly short time every inch of it was carried off. It was only
by knowing that the meat would all be used that we felt justified in
the slaughter of this noble creature. The tusks weighed 62 lbs.
each.
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