]34 THE ELEPHANT. 



himself to be conducted from one place to another. 

 Care, however, is always taken not to let him ap- 

 proach his former haunts, lest a recollection of them 

 should induce him to attempt to recover his li- 

 berty *. 



The following is Mr. Bruce's account of Eie- 

 phant-Iiunting in Abyssinia. The men who make 

 the liunting of Elephants their business, he says, 

 dwell constantly in the woods, living entirely 

 upon the flesh of the animals they kill, which is 

 chiefly that of the Elephant or Rhinoceros. They 

 are exceedingly thin, light, and agile both on horse- 

 back and foot. They are called Agageers ; a name 

 derived from the word Agar, which signifies to 

 hough or ham-string with a sharp w^eapon. More 

 properly it means, indeed, the cutting of the ten- 

 don of the heel ; and is a characteristic of the man- 

 ner in which they kill the Elephant, which is thus: 

 — Two men, quite naked to prevent their bein^'- 

 laid hold of by the trees or bushes in making their 

 escape from this very watchful enemy, get on horse- 

 back. One of themi sits on the back of the horse, 

 sometimes with a saddle, and sometimes without one, 

 with 'only a switch or short stick in one hand, care- 

 fully managing the bridle with the other ; behind 

 him sits his companion, armed only with a broad- 

 sw^ord. His left hand is employed in grasping the 

 sword by the handle ; about fourteen inches of the 



* Sec a ])a]icr of John Corse, esq. on the metluxl of catchins' wild 

 Elephants at Tlpuia in the East ladies, inserted in the Asiatic R«- 

 searches. 



