196 THE WILDERNESS AND JUNGLE 



other hand, is hamstrung from the saddle by 

 a cut delivered forwards and downwards, sword 

 and arm in line, a few inches above the animal's 

 near hind hock. It is well known that in battle 

 the Arab never loses a chance of hamstringing 

 the enemy's horses and camels. In the melee 

 he always strives to detach his adversary's 

 bridle and to fell the horse with a cut between 

 its ears. In fact, many of the Dervish horses 

 captured at the Battle of Firket, in 1896, were 

 found to have lost their ears in Arab warfare, 

 and this mutilation had clearly been the work 

 of the sword-cutting at the bridle headstall, 

 to protect which some horses wore head armour. 

 The truly daring and magnificent sport of the 

 sword-hunter has without a doubt declined from 

 various causes, among which may be reckoned 

 the game laws promulgated of late years in the 

 Sudan, as well as the large number of firearms, 

 licensed or otherwise, now in use throughout 

 that region. Yet there are men still living 

 who, armed only with cold steel, have laid 

 low the African elephant, and, whatever regret 

 may be felt at seeing so huge an animal 

 destroyed in any circumstances, much of the 

 reproach is removed when it is conquered with 

 such weapons. The ability to keep calm and 

 collected in face of great danger is commonly 

 claimed by some nations of Northern Europe 

 and America as their birthright, but those 



