No one had tasted food since the previous day, nor had I drunk water,
although the sun had been burning hot; I now obtained some muddy rain
water from a puddle, and we went towards home, where we arrived at
half-past eight, every one tired with the day's work. The camels came
into camp about an hour later.
My men were all now wonderfully brave; each had some story of a narrow
escape, and several declared that the elephants had run over them, but
fortunately without putting their feet upon them.
The news spread through the town that the elephant was killed; and, long
before daybreak on the following morning, masses of natives had started
for the jungles, where they found him lying dead. Accordingly, they
stole his magnificent tusks, which they carried to the town of Wakkala,
and confessed to taking all the flesh, but laid the blame of the ivory
theft upon the Wakkala tribe.
There was no redress. The questions of a right of game are ever prolific
of bad blood, and it was necessary in this instance to treat the matter
lightly. Accordingly, the natives requested me to go out and shoot them
another elephant: on the condition of obtaining the meat, they were
ready to join in any hunting expedition.
The elephants in Central Africa have very superior tusks to those of
Abyssinia. I had shot a considerable number in the Base country on the
frontier of Abyssinia, and few tusks were above 30 1bs. weight; those in
the neighbourhood of the White Nile average about 50 1bs. for each tusk
of a bull elephant, while those of the females are generally about 10
lbs. I have seen monster tusks of 160 lbs., and one was in the
possession of a trader, Mons. P., that weighed 172 1bs.
It is seldom that a pair of tusks are alike. As a man uses the right
hand in preference to the left, so the elephant works with a particular
tusk, which is termed by the traders "el Hadam" (the servant); this is
naturally, more worn than the other, and is usually about ten pounds
lighter: frequently it is broken, as the elephant uses it as a lever to
uproot trees and to tear up the roots of various bushes upon which he
feeds.
The African elephant is not only entirely different from the Indian
species in his habits, but he also differs in form.
There are three distinguishing peculiarities. The back of the African
elephant is concave, that of the Indian is convex; the ear of the
African is enormous, entirely covering the shoulder when thrown back,
while the ear of the Indian variety is comparatively small. The head of
the African has a convex front, the top of the skull sloping back at a
rapid inclination, while the head of the Indian elephant exposes a flat
surface a little above the trunk.
The average size of the African elephant is larger than those of Ceylon,
although I have occasionally shot monster rogues in the latter country,
equal to anything that I have seen in Africa. The average height of
female elephants in Ceylon is about 7 ft. 10 in. at the shoulder, and
that of the males is about 9 ft.; but the usual height of the African
variety I have found, by actual measurement, of females to be 9 ft.,
while that of the bills is 10 ft. 6 in. Thus the females of the African
are equal to the males of Ceylon.
They also differ materially in their habits. In Ceylon, the elephant
seeks the shade of thick forests at the rising of the sun, in which he
rests until about 5 P.M., when he wanders forth upon the plains. In
Africa, the country being generally more open, the elephant remains
throughout the day either beneath a solitary tree, or exposed to the sun
in the vast prairies, where the thick grass attains a height of from
nine to twelve feet. The general food of the African elephant consists
of the foliage of trees, especially of mimosas. In Ceylon, although
there are many trees that serve as food, the elephant nevertheless is an
extensive grass-feeder. The African variety, being almost exclusively a
tree-feeder, requires his tusks to assist him in procuring food. Many of
the mimosas are flat-headed, about thirty feet high, and the richer
portion of the foliage confined to the crown; thus the elephant, not
being able to reach to so great a height, must overturn the tree to
procure the coveted food. The destruction caused by a herd of African
elephants in a mimosa forest is extraordinary; and I have seen trees
uprooted of so large a size, that I am convinced no single elephant
could have overturned them. I have measured trees four feet six inches
in circumference, and about thirty feet high, uprooted by elephants. The
natives have assured me that they mutually assist each other, and that
several engage together in the work of overturning a large tree. None of
the mimosas have tap-roots; thus the powerful tusks of the elephants,
applied as crowbars at the roots, while others pull at the branches with
their trunks, will effect the destruction of a tree so large as to
appear invulnerable. The Ceylon elephant rarely possessing tusks, cannot
destroy a tree thicker than the thigh of an ordinary man.
In Ceylon, I have seldom met old bulls in parties - they are generally
single or remain in pairs; but, in Africa, large herds are met with,
consisting entirely of bulls.
