70 BEASTS AND MEN 
the Baggara-Arabs of the White Nile, hunters no less famous 
than the swordsmen of the Taka district. The Abyssinians, 
too, who suffered under the same fate as their Sudanese 
neighbours, were driven to the same extremes. Their 
favourite quarry was the elephant ; and they not only took the 
tusks, but devoured the flesh, not even rejecting the tough 
meat of the legs. On one occasion a border prince organised 
a regular elephant drive, at which no less than fifty-six of the 
animals were slain in a single day. On this occasion the 
scene of action resembled a pitched battle, for twenty Abys- 
sinians were left dead on the field; most of them, it is true, 
killed, not by the elephants, but by aberrant bullets from the 
rifles of their own friends. 
In Abyssinia driving is a favourite method of attacking 
game. The number of men available is unlimited, and all 
living creatures are regarded as imperial property; so that 
there are no obstacles in the way of this pursuit. A zebra- 
hunt, in which one of my travellers took part, may be de- 
scribed as an example of the way in which these drives 
are carried out. An army of as many as 2,000 soldiers 
form a circle enclosing a very large tract of country, where 
the zebras are known to be. The locality is selected so that 
near the centre of the circle there passes one of the dried-up 
river-beds, so common in that country. These sandy river- 
beds are flanked on either side by high rocky banks. The 
large circle of men begins to contract, driving the zebras into 
the centre. The animals spring lightly into the river-bed, 
from which they are unable to escape, by reason of the steep 
sides. A guard is set in the river-bed on either side of them, 
so as to prevent their moving up or down. When they 
are thus securely penned in, a barbarous spectacle takes place. 
A thousand soldiers attack the zebras with long whips, and 
thrash them for hours, until they are thoroughly exhausted, 
and their spirit tamed. This manceuvre is attended with 
much danger, and on the occasion in question thirty-three 
men were either killed or severely wounded during the fray. 
