396 EASTERN ETHIOPIA xxxj 



leaving the Ituri river, in the following terms : — " On 

 the road Ijeforc leaving the bush we passed a place 

 where an elephant spear had fallen to the ground, and 

 buried itself so deep that three men were unable to 

 heave it out. Such a force, we argued, would have 

 slain an elephant on the instant. (April 8, 1888.)" 



In some districts the natives kill elephants in 

 enormous numbers and without discrimination, not for 

 the tusks merely, but for tlie meat and hides. In 1895 

 the Homr and Rizighat Arabs killed about 800 elephants. 

 The Homr killed 87 in one day. (Soudan Reports for 

 1895, p. 129.) 



Many years a,go there was an African elephant in 

 the menagerie of the Zoological Society, Loudon, which 

 attained some notoriety under the name of Jumbo. 

 This animal, when in his f)rime, possessed two broken 

 tusks which projected through the skin of the cheeks. 

 The stunted condition of the tusks was due to the fact 

 that in a fit of passion (must) Jumbo broke his tusks 

 within their sockets. This led to the formation of an 

 abscess, and the elephant became so ill that it seemed 

 likely to die. A. D. Bartlett, the able superintendent 

 of the Gardens at that time, attempted to open the 

 abscess Ity thrusting a spear into it from a loft in the 

 elephant-house, but only succeeded in making a deep 

 cut in the hide. Jumbo could not be persuaded to go 

 near the gallery again. Subsequently Mr. Bartlett 

 fashioned a steel instrument about eighteen inches long. 

 One end was hook-shaped, and the inside edge of this 

 hook was ground sharp like a knife. The lower end 

 was ring-shaped, and to it a stout cord was tied. 

 Bartlett, with the assistance of the elephant-keeper, 

 adroitly slipped the hook of the instrument into the 

 slit in the hide made at the first attack, and, by 

 hanging on the rope, forced this crude knife into the 

 abscess and let out a large c[uantity of blood and pus. 

 A quarter of an hour later, the elephant, sensible of 

 relief, willingly knelt down and allowed them to syringe 



