60 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



at the passing elephant. Even thirty years ago, in the 

 northern part of Matabeleland, natives still attacked 

 the elephant with their axes, aiming their strokes 

 at the heel ; and the Achilles tendon once severed, 

 the mighty game was rendered perfectly helpless. 

 The finest and most daring hunters, whether white 

 or black, in all Africa, were undoubtedly the Hamran 

 Arabs, with whom Sir Samuel Baker hunted about 

 the Nile tributaries of Abyssinia in the early 'sixties. 

 These wonderful Nimrods possessed horses and rode 

 recklessly. One of them would take his horse close 

 up to an elephant, which would then give chase. As 

 the monster pressed after the flying horseman, out 

 would dash two other mounted hunters, armed with 

 sharp swords. Riding right up to the heels of the 

 elephant, one of these Arabs would suddenly leap 

 from his saddle, and with one mighty two-handed 

 stroke sever the tendon of the monster's hind leg. 

 The elephant at once dislocated the foot in another 

 stride or two, and was practically hors de combat. The 

 other tendon was then similarly treated. The elephant 

 bled to death ; and thus, with two strokes of a sharp 

 sword, the huge pachyderm was conquered. The 

 Arabs were, as may be supposed, not always the 

 victors in these heroic encounters, and fatal accidents 

 occasionally happened among them. Sir Samuel 

 Baker had much experience of the methods of these 

 wonderful hunters, and always spoke and wrote of 

 their magnificent courage in terms of the highest 

 praise. One wonders, now that the Soudan has once 

 more been opened up to Europeans, whether any 



