CHAPTER XXI. 



ON " SAFARI " TO BOMBO. 



On the day following the disappointment of my one 

 tusker, I walked over to superintend the men whilst 

 they were extracting the tusks. I spent some time 

 inspecting the two colossal beasts, and although 

 they were twenty-four hours dead I could not re- 

 strain a certain feeling of awe. In fact, I felt 

 in the position of the yokel, who, as the story 

 goes, stood for a long time gazing at the picture 

 of an elephant, and pulling himself together with 

 a start, said very decidedly: "No; there ain't 

 such a beast." It is gruesome work chopping 

 up an elephant, and needs not only hard labour 

 but no little time. Leaving the carcasses under 

 the supervision of my orderly, with instructions 

 to cut off a fore-foot and some of the huge toe- 

 nails, and to secure the tusks, I returned to my 

 tent carrying with me the tail of the elephant that 

 had charged me, as a memento of a pretty near 

 thing. Whilst I was writing in the camp, some 

 Shensi natives came in and brought me milk. I 

 asked them whether they knew how to make 

 bracelets out of the hairs of the elephant's tail. 

 One of them confessed to being a " fundi " at the 

 game, and proceeded to do two or three of them. 



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