HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



nto water-bags by gathering the corners and edges, and transfix 

 ng the whole on a pointed wand. The flesh is then removed in 

 Miormous sheets from the ribs, when the hatchets come into play, 

 with which they chop through, and remove individually, each 

 colossal rib. The bowels are thus laid bare ; and in the removal 

 of these the leading men take a lively interest and active part, for 

 it is throughout and around the bowels that the fat of the elephant 

 is mainly found. 



There are few things which a Bechuana prizes so highly as fat 

 of any description ; they will go an amazing distance for a small 

 portion of it. They use it principally in cooking their sun-dried 

 biltongue, and they also eat it with their corn. The fat of the 

 elephant lies in extensive layers and sheets in his inside, and the 

 quantity which is obtained from a full-grown bull, in high con- 

 dition, is very great. Before it can be obtained, the greater part 

 of the bowels must be removed. To accomplish this, several men 

 eventually enter the immense cavity of his inside, where they 

 continue mining away with their assagais, and handing the fat 

 to their comrades outside until all is bare. While this is tran- 

 spiring with the sides and bowels, other parties are equally active 

 in removing the skin and flesh from the remaining parts of the 

 carcase. The natives have a horrid practice or these occasions 

 of besmearing their bodies, from the crown of the head to the sole 

 of the foot, with the black and clotted gore ; and in this anointing 

 they assist one another, each man taking up the fill in both his 

 hands, and spreading it over the back and shoulders of his friend. 

 Throughout the entire proceeding an incessant and deafening 

 clamor of many voices and confused sounds is maintained, and 

 violent jostling and wrestling are practiced by every man, elbow- 

 ing the breasts and countenances of his fellows, all slippery with 

 gore, as he endeavors to force his \vay to the venison through thv 

 dense intervening ranks, while the sharp and ready assagai 

 gleams in every hand. The angry voices and gory appearances 

 of these naked savages, combined with their excited and frantic 

 gestures and glistening arms, presented an effect so wild and 



