HMHTS or rut: .1 //;// -.i.v KLErn.\\r 



as a luxury, and in many -a.- ilumclit too good to be spoiled by rooking. 'Hi*- flesh of the 

 Klephant is dried in order to U- form.-.! int.. --liiltongue," r jerked nu-at. and tin- fat W jeal- 

 ously prm-r \ed. lieini; u---<l in tin- decoration of tin- |-i^on and ruliU-d copiously o\.-i ih.- 

 head :ind lx>dy. Even tin- skin is of >er\ ice t4i the natives. for tieneath tin- hard. li-ath.-r like 

 hide. tin ! li.-s a tough inn.T skin, which is carefully ivmo\.<d in large sheets, and in made 

 into \.-ss,.|s f,,r tin- conveyance of wat.-i 



Some jiortions of tin- Klephant :I |,-. 1, .rrateful even to Christian palates, and the 



foot, w hen baked. is really d>-licioiis. This part of tin- animal is cooked by being laid in a hole 

 in tin- t-artli. over which a large tire has l>een suffered to bum itself out, and then i-oxen-d o\.-r 

 with the hot earth. Another tire is then built on the s|H)t. and ]>ermitted to burn itaelf out aa 

 before, ami when the ].la.-.- is thoroughly cool, the foot is projierly cooked. Tlie fleah of the 

 boiled foot is quite soft and gelatinous, something resembling calf's head, and is so tender 

 that it can be scooped away with a spoon. The trunk and the skin around the eye are also 

 enumerated aa delicacies, but have Ix-en com]Kired by one who has had practical exj-rience. as 

 bearing a clone resemblance to shoe-leather In.th in tonirhn.'s> ami evil flavor. 



The African Klephant is a most suspicions and wary animal. Ix'ing very keen of scent and 

 acute of hearing. So sensitive are the animal's olfactory faculties, that it ran trurk a native 

 by the scent of his footsteps, although perhaps it might find a difficulty in following the 

 spoor of a shod and cleanly Christian. However close the Elephant may be, the pursued 

 hunter is arways Nife if he ran only climb a tree, for the animal n<-\rr thinks of looking else- 

 where than on the irround for its foe, and neither by went nor vision directs its attention to 

 the trees. While employed in thus trailing their enemies, it writhes the trunk into the most 

 singular contortions, fully justifying the epithet of aiitjniinaim*, or snake- hand, which has so 

 aptly Us. n applied to that igemlx-r. 



The natives employ many methtxls of capturing Klephants. the pitfall ln-ing the most 

 deadly. Kven this insidious snare is often rendered useless by the sagacity of the crafty old 

 leader* of the herds, who precede their little troops to the water, as they advance by night to 

 drink, and carefully beating the ground with their trunks as they proceed, unmask the pitfalls 

 that have been dug in their course. They then tear away the coverings of the pits, and render 

 them harmless. These pitfalls an- terrible affairs when an animal gets into them, for a 

 sharp stake is set perpendicularly at the bottom, so that the poor Elephant is transfixed by 

 its own w.-i-ht. and dies miserably. Each pit is about eight feet long by four in width. 



When.-ver the Elephants approach the water at night, their advent may beat once known 

 by the commotion that arises among the various animals which have also congregated around 

 the pool for the purpose of slaking their thirst. "If the spring or pool," says Mr. Aml.-r 

 son, in his valuable work. Like N'gnmi," "be of small extent, all the animals present will 

 immediately retire from the water as soon as they are aware of the presence of the Elephants, 

 of whom they appear to have an instinctive dread, and will remain at a respectful distance 

 until the giants have quenched their thirst. Thus, long before I have seen or even heard the 

 Elephants, I have been warned of their approach by the symptoms of uneasiness displayed by 

 such animals as happened to be drinking at the time. The giraffe, for instance, begins to sway 

 his long neck to and fro ; the zebra utters sudden and plaintive cries ; the gnoo glides away 

 with a noiseless step ; and even the ponderous and quarrelsome black rhinoceros, when he has 

 time for reflection, will pull up short in his walk to listen : then turning round, he listens 

 again, and if he feels satisfied that his suspicions are correct, he invariably makes off, giving 

 vent to his fear or ire by one of his vicious and peculiar snorts. Once, it is true, I saw a 

 rhinoceros drinking together with a herd of seven male Elephants; but then he was of the 

 white species, and, besides, I do not believe that either party knew of each other's proximity." 



The ivory of the African Klephant is extremely valuable, and vat quantities are exported 

 annually. The slaughter of an Elephant is therefore a matter of congratulation to the white 

 hunter, who knows that he can obtain a good price for the tusks and teeth of the animal 

 which he has slain. A pair of tusks weighing about a hundred and fifty pounds will fetch 

 nearly >no when sold, so that the produce of a successful chase is extremely valuable. One 

 officer contrived to purchase every step in the army by the sale of the ivory which he had 



