362 THE ELEPHANT. 



siderable time in their company, and was a witness 

 to their wonderful performances. And, though in 

 the main the same tale is told by both the distin- 

 guished travellers, still, as the subject is interest- 

 ing, and Sir Samuel goes into more details, 

 I will take leave to quote what, in substance, he 

 says of the remarkable men in question. 



" They, the Aggajeers, belong to a particular 

 tribe of Arabs the Hamrans inhabiting the 

 country south of Cassala, between that town and 

 the Base country, who are only to be distin- 

 guished from the neighbouring tribes by an extra 

 length of hair, worn parted down the centre, and 

 arranged in long curls, and who, when about to 

 attack the elephant, are merely armed with the 

 sword, which differs not in form from that usually 

 worn, but is bound with cord very closely from 

 the guard for about nine inches (Bruce says four- 

 teen) along the blade, to enable him to grasp it 

 with the right hand, whilst the hilt is held by the 

 left, thus converted into a two-handed sword. The 

 scabbard (Bruce speaks of the weapon being with- 

 out that appendage) is strengthened by an extra 

 covering formed of the elephant's ear. 



" Their way of hunting the elephant differs. 

 Those hunters who cannot afford to purchase horses 

 hunt on foot, in parties not exceeding two persons. 

 Their method is to follow the tracks of the ele- 

 phant, so as to arrive at their game between the 

 hours of 10 a.m. and noon, at which time the 

 animal is either asleep or extremely listless, and 

 easy to approach. Should they discover it asleep, 



