AiBTCAN HOESE.] MODERN VETERINARY PRACTICE, [afuican nonnE. 



horse in the following terms : — " What figure 

 the Nubian breed of horses would make in 

 point of swiftness is very doubtful, their form 

 being so entirely different from that of the 

 Arabian; but if beautiful and symmetrical 

 parts, great size and strength, the most agile, 

 nervous, and elastic movements, great endur- 

 ance of fatigue, docility of temper, and, beyond 

 any other domestic animal, seeming attachment 

 to man, can promise anything for a stallion, 

 the Nubian is, above all comparison, the most 

 eligible in the world. Few of them are less 

 than sixteen hands high." 



Bosman, another traveller, describes the 

 Nubian horse as the most perfect of his 

 kind; and says that, in 1816, one of them was 

 sold in Grand Cairo for a thousand pounds. 

 Several of the species have been introduced 

 to England, but with what results we have 

 been unable to ascertain. 



The Abyssinians, according to Bruce, destroy 

 the elephant for food. " They cut the whole 

 of the flesh off his bones into thongs, like the 

 reins of a bridle, and hang these, like festoons, 

 upon the branches of trees, till they become 

 perfectly dry, without salt ; and then they lay 

 them up for their provisions in the season of 

 the rains." This traveller has given an ani- 

 mated description of an elephant hunt, con- 

 ducted by the Africans, who, on such occasions, 

 are greatly assisted by their spirited horses. 



" An hour before day, after a hearty break- 

 fast, we mounted on horseback, to the number 

 of about thirty But there was another body, 

 both of horse and foot, which made hunting 

 the elephant their particular business. These 

 men dwell constantly in the woods, and know 

 very little of the use of bread, living entirely 

 upon the flesh of the beasts they kill, chiefly 

 that of the elephant and rhinoceros. ' They 

 are exceedingly thin, light, and agile, both on 

 horseback and foot ; are very swarthy, though 

 few of them are black ; none of them woolly- 

 headed, and all of them have European features. 

 They are called agageer, a name of their pro- 

 fession, not of their nation ; which comes from 

 the word agar^ and signifies to hamstring with 

 a sharp weapon. More properly it means the 

 cutting of the tendon of the heel, and is a cha- 

 racteristic of the manner in which they kill 

 the elephant, which is shortly as follows : — 

 "Two men absolutely naked, without any 



D 



rag or covering at all about tliem, get on 

 horseback ; this precaution is for fear of beiug 

 laid hold of by the trees or bushes, in making 

 their escape from a very watchful enemy. 

 One of these riders sits upon the back of tlio 

 horse, sometimes with a saddle, and sometimes 

 without one, with only a switch or short stick 

 in one hand, carefully managing the bridio 

 with the other ; behind him sits his companion, 

 who has no other arms but a broadsword, liis 

 left hand is employed in grasping the sword 

 by the handle ; about fourteen inches of tlic 

 blade is covered with whip-cord. This part 

 he takes in his right hand, without any danger 

 of being hurt by it ; and, though the edges of 

 the lower part of the sword are as sharp as a 

 razor, he carries it without a scabbard. 



" As soon as the elephant is found feeding, 

 the horseman rides before him as near his face 

 as possible ; or, if he flies, crosses him in all 

 directions, crying out, * I am such a man and 

 such a man ; this is my horse, that has such a 

 name. I killed your father in such a place, 

 and your grandfather in such another place ; 

 and I am now come to kill you. You are but 

 an ass in comparison of them.'. This non- 

 sense, he verily believes, the elephant under- 

 stands, who, chased and angry at hearing tbo 

 noise immediately before him, seeks to seize him 

 with his trunk or proboscis ; and, intent upon 

 this, follows the horse everywhere, turning and 

 turning round with him, neglectful of making 

 his escape by running straight forward, in which 

 consists his only safety. After having made 

 him turn once or twice in pursuit of the horse, 

 the horseman rides close up alongside of hmi, 

 and drops his companion just behind on the off 

 side; and while he engages the elephant's 

 attention upon the horse, the footman behind 

 gives him a drawn stroke just above the heel 

 or what in man is called the tendon of Achilles. 

 This is the critical moment; the horseman 

 immediately wheels round, takes his companion 

 up behind him, and rides off" at full speed after 

 the rest of the herd, if they have started more 

 than one; and sometimes an expert agagecr 

 AYill kill three out of one herd. If the sword 

 i3 good, and the man not afraid, the tendon is 

 coramonlv entirely separated ; and if it is not 

 cut throu'gh, it is generally so far divided, that 

 the animal, with the stress he puts upon it, 

 breaks the remaining part asunder. In either 



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