IV 



KOM-KOM 



55 



Either from a profound working acquaintance with 

 the behaviour of spirits, or by message promptly 

 received from the other world, he must have 

 learned that the desired end had been achieved, for, 

 immediately on the conclusion of this ceremony, he 

 made a solid meal on Kom- 

 Kom's toasted heart and 

 energetically assisted his 

 three wives to appropriate 

 as much of the meat as 

 they possibly could, after 

 the manner of the most 

 ordinary of mortals. 



For such an exception- 

 ally large elephant, Kom- 

 Kom's tusks were com- 

 paratively small, only scaling 

 65 and 67 Ibs. respectively. 

 There is no doubt that he 

 had acquired his cunning 

 at the expense of native 

 elephant hunters, for he bore in evidence of the 

 fact the scars of many old wounds inflicted by 

 their bullets, seventeen of which missiles the 

 natives found when cutting up his tough old 

 carcase. He was also endowed with a charac- 

 teristic which I have seen in no other elephant 



KOM-KOM'S TAIL. 



