ELEPHANTS. 



553 



Hamstringing:. 



Weighted Spears. 



The intrepid Hamram Arabs of the Sudan slay the elephant in 

 the same manner as the rhinoceros, by hamstringing it with a long 

 two-edged sword. Three or four mounted hunters, singling out a tusker and 

 separating it from its fellows, follow it until, tired out, the animal faces its pursuers, 

 and prepares to charge. Directly it does so, the hunter who is the object of the 

 charge puts his horse to a gallop, and is closely followed by the elephant. There- 

 upon, two of his companions follow at their best pace behind ; and as soon as they 

 come up with the fleeing animal, one seizes the reins of the horse of his fellow, 

 who immediately leaps to the ground, and with one blow of his huge sword 

 divides the tendon of the elephant's leg a short distance above the heel. The 

 ponderous beast is at once brought to a standstill, and is at the mercy of its 

 aggressors. 



A somewhat similar method, according to Mr. Selous, was formerly practised 

 in Mashonaland, only thei^e the hunters went on foot, and their weapon was a 

 broad-bladed axe; with this they crept up behind a sleeping elephant, and severed 

 the back tendon of the leg in the same manner as above. 



Other tribes in the same district employ a heavily-weighted 

 spear, which is plunged into the animal's back by a hunter seated on 

 a bough overhanging one of the most frequented pathways. On receiving the 

 weapon, the elephant of course immediately rushes ofl', and the weight of the spear, 

 aided by blows from boughs, soon so enlarges the wound, that the animal quickly 

 sinks to the ground, exhausted from loss of blood. In other districts, as in parts 

 of Equatoria, the weighted spear is suspended from a horizontal bar fixed between 

 two tiers or poles. The spear or knife, according to Major Casati's description, is 

 kept in position "by a cord, which is held down by a stake that is directed 

 horizontally towards the middle of the trap ; and by another which, at a convenient 

 angle, is interposed between this and the end. The animal, striking with his feet, 

 loosens the contrivance, which then falls violently ; the knife wounds the animal 

 with singular exactness in the spot where the brain unites with the nape of the 

 neck. The blow falls like a thunder-clap ; and if the trap is well made, the elephant 

 struggles and dies." 



The European sportsman kills the African elephant either by 

 lying in wait at one of its drinking-places, or by attacking it in the 

 open, either on foot or on horseback. At the present day, however, most or all 

 of the elephants i-emaining in South-Eastern Africa are restricted to districts 

 infested by the tsetsi fly, where horses cannot exist, and the pursuit must conse- 

 quently be undertaken on foot. Owing to the conformation of its skull, the front- 

 shot, so frequently employed in the case of the Indian elephant, is ineffectual with 

 the African species, and there are but two spots where a bullet may be expected to 

 prove fatal ; one of these being in the head behind the eye, and the other in the 

 shoulder immediately behind the flap of the ear. 



Stories of hairbreadth escapes from charges of the African elephant may be 

 reckoned by the score, but we cannot refrain from quoting one narrated by Mr. 

 Selous. That gentleman had wounded a female elephant at a time when his horse 

 was thoroughly knocked up. On a sudden the beast turned to charge, before there 

 Was time to get a fair start " Digging the spurs into my horse's ribs," writes the 



By Europeans. 



